Life Inside Boko Haram Victims’ Camp in Lagos State

An overpowering stench pervades the camp which partly sits on a dumpsite tucked in Happy Home Avenue in Kirikiri town, a coastal community in Apapa area of Lagos. The camp is home to hundreds of victims of Boko Haram who fled Northeast Nigeria for the relative safety being experienced down south. But not many people know about its existence.

The terrorist group, Boko Haram, has been responsible for thousands of civilian deaths in the troubled region after declaring war against the government.

Ironically, the condition of the camp stands in total contrast to the name of the avenue. Its squalor paints a stark picture of a life of gloom, neglect, poverty and hopelessness for the Internally Displaced Persons.

Stories of deaths of loved ones are rife here with a general deep sense of loss. Everyone has a story to tell and has similarly lost at least a loved one, either to death or separation.

For many of them, life is a cruel journey. And since about 80 per cent of the IDPs at the camp are from Adamawa State, their journeys to Lagos were also long and laborious.

It was 6pm and dark clouds had just settled on the camp, threatening rain.

‘I watched my brother die’

One of the IDPs, Kashim Samaila, 15, starred glumly at the sky with an appealing look. Samaila sleeps out in the open and the daunting prospect of spending another night in the rain frightens him.

The shacks in the camp are built partly of wood and partly of sack clothes, many of which were donated by nearby companies and other benefactors. But they are largely inadequate to cater for the growing population in the camp.

Samaila said he has to tuck his hands inside his clothes in the night to stand a chance against the biting cold wind; although, he often has to bring them out to swat mosquitoes coming at him.

“No one will buy drugs for me if I have malaria; I’m the only one in my family here,” he said.

Samaila lost his younger brother about a year ago and has lost contact with his other family members since then.
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