This paper sets out to evaluate how displacement impacts on migration in Nigeria. Displaced persons ordinarily suffer from severe deprivations and precarious living conditions; the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic without doubt, worked even more grave hardships on the community of the displaced. This paper ventures into the effects/challenges brought upon displaced persons with regards to the enjoyment and enforcement of human rights and the ability of such persons to abide by the restrictions and regulations guiding conduct of persons during the pandemic. It considers the factors causing displacement and argues that the living conditions of displaced persons leaves them with no option but to disregard the regulations consequent upon the failure of government to put in place enabling conditions that will engender respect and obedience to the regulations. The paper adopts the doctrinal approach and examines the regulations on internally displaced persons (IDPs) through reliance on relevant laws in Nigeria, data collection and existing literature. The paper concludes among others that there is the need for a national legal framework specifically for internally displaced persons that will cater for prevention and management of internal displacement in Nigeria as against the provision of a national policy.
| Published in | International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 4, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijls.20210403.13 |
| Page(s) | 169-176 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Displacement, Internally Displaced Persons, Migration, COVID-19 Pandemic, Legal Constraints, National Legal Framework
| [1] | In the first half of the year 2020 alone, it is reported by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) that there are 14.6 million displacements across 127 countries; Internal Displacement 2020: Mid-Year Update, Internaldisplacement.org. |
| [2] | Giustiniani, F. Z., (2009) New Hopes and Challenges for the Protection of IDPs in Africa: The Kampala Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa Denv. J. Int’l Law 39 (2), 347. |
| [3] | It is on record that in Africa, at least half of the countries and 20 percent of the continent’s population have been affected by frequent armed conflicts; see International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Future Priorities in Africa 11 (2004) unpublished manuscript. According to more recent report, of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, sub-Saharan Africa experienced more internal displacement than any other region as over 16.5 million persons were displaced as at the year ended 2018. |
| [4] | The IDMC mid-year Internal Displacement Report for 2020 for example indicates that ten countries with the highest displacement from conflict and violence, seven are African countries; the countries are Syria, DRC, Burkina Faso, South Sudan, Somalia, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Mali, Yemen and Central African Republic. See Giustiniani, F. Z., (2009) New Hopes and Challenges for the Protection of IDPs in Africa: The Kampala Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa Denv. J. Int’l Law 39 (2), 347. |
| [5] | In 1966, there was a coup d’état which was closely followed by other politically motivated events and killings; this resulted in the people of the defunct Eastern Region declaring secession from the Federal Republic of Nigeria and proclaiming the independent state of Biafra. This move was fiercely resisted by the federal government; the ensuing war lasted for thirty months. |
| [6] | Orji, K. E., Uebari S. N (2013) Nigerian Civil War and Refugee Crisis: The Fate of the Minorities in The Former Eastern Region IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science. |
| [7] | IDMC Africa Report, 2016. |
| [8] | World Health Organisation COVID-19 Regulations. |
| [9] | See Nigeria’s COVID 19 Regulations 2020, made pursuant to sections 2, 3 and 4 of The Quarantine Act, Cap. Q2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, whereby COVID-19 was declared as a dangerous disease. |
| [10] | One of the high-profile convictions secured in this regard was that of the entertainer, Funke Akindele and her husband who were convicted for having a party involving the gathering of over fifty persons and in which social distancing was not observed which was clearly against the COVID-19 regulations. See the Vanguard of April 6 2020. |
| [11] | E. Mooney (2005) The Concept of Internal Displacement and the Case for Internally Displaced Persons as a Category of Concern’ Refugee Survey Quarterly 24) (3), 10. |
| [12] | See Ezenokwasa, Kalu, Okaphor, (2018) A Critique of the Legal Framework for Arresting the Threat of Internal Displacement of Persons to Nigeria’s National Security’ NAUJIL 9 (2) 20. |
| [13] | See International Migration Law – Glossary on Migration, a publication of the International Organization for Migration Retrieved 16 October 2020 from publication.iom.int/system/files/pdf/iml_1_en.pdf. |
| [14] | United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, E/CN. 4/1998/53/Add 2, 11th February 1998, paragraph 2; this definition is adopted as well by the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, 2008, also known as the Kampala Convention. |
| [15] | Akume, A. T., (2015) The Question of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria: A Reflection on Present Realities, Journal of Third World Studies, 32 (1), 221 at 222. |
| [16] | Aloh and Obaji, (2016) Internal Displacement in Nigeria and the case for Human Rights Protection of Displaced persons, Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization 51, 26. |
| [17] | Is a leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental intergovernmental and non- governmental. |
| [18] | See paragraph 2 of the UN Guiding Principles as well as Article 1 (k) of the Kampala Convention. |
| [19] | IDMC REPORT 2019. |
| [20] | Examples are the Itsekiris and Ijaws conflict in 1999, The Ife- Modakeke rivalries etcetera. |
| [21] | Terminski. B, Oil –Induced Displacement and Resettlement; Social Problem and Human Right Issues’ (2012) Retrieved 16 March 2021 from c:/users/user/downloads/docl:26899_741771990.pdf. |
| [22] | See generally, Mohammed, F. K., (2006) The Causes and Consequences of Internal Displacement in Nigeria and Related Governance Challenges, SWP Working Paper, FG 8, April 2017, SWP Berlin; UNCHR, State of the World’s Refugees, 2006: Human Displacement in the new millennium 160. |
| [23] | Conflict between the Fulani pastoralists and Hausa farmers in north west states of Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara led tens of thousands of people to flee across border into the Maradi region of Niger; as reported by IOM DTM COVID-19 Impact on IDPs, 2 July 2020. |
| [24] | It is reported by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) that for the first half of 2020, 8,800 persons were displaced from disasters while 32,000 were displaced from conflict and violence in Nigeria. |
| [25] | International Crisis Group, The Boko Haram Insurgency 2020. |
| [26] | The data for this report are the results of a detailed assessment conducted in 33 sites in Borno and Adamawa in January and February 2015 by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. |
| [27] | COVID-19 Impact on IDPs No. 6 displacement.iom.int. |
| [28] | Olanrewaju, F. O., Omotosho, F., Alabi, J. O., Datasets on the Challenges of Forced Displacement and Coping Strategy among Displaced Women in Selected IDPs Camps in Nigeria, Elsevier, Data in Brief Vol. 2018, 152-158 Retrieved 16 January 2021 from http://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2018.07.042. |
| [29] | African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap. A 9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. |
| [30] | Chapter four of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended provides in detail for the fundamental human rights recognized under the constitution. |
| [31] | Chapter two of the Constitution is made non-justiciable vide section 6 (6) (c) which provides that the judicial powers of the state do not extend to any issue question as to whether any act or omission by any government or is in conformity with the fundamental principles. |
| [32] | Established vide the National Human Rights Commission Act, Cap. N. 46 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. |
| [33] | This is set up under the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons Act, Cap. N 21, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. |
| [34] | http://nema.gov.ng/. |
| [35] | UN Doc. E/CN 4/1998/53/Add. 2 (Feb. 11, 1998). |
| [36] | See generally, United Nations, Protecting internally displaced persons: inter-agency standing committee policy paper. New York, 1998, Retrieved 23 February 2021 from http:www.reliefweb.int/idp/docs/references/iascpolicyprotectionpaper.pdf. |
| [37] | This much was stated in the introductory paragraph of the Guiding Principles on United Nations internal displacement. |
| [38] | Adopted on 23 October 2009, 49 I. L. M., 86. At the sub-regional level however, there was the Pact on Security, Stability and Development signed in December 2006, by the States in the Great Lakes Region which included two protocols specifically dedicate to the protection of IDPs. |
| [39] | See Kidane W., (2011) Managing Forced Displacement by Law in Africa: The Role of the New Africa Union IDPs Convention. Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 44, 1 at 6. |
| [40] | See Article 3 (1) (a) of the Kampala Convention. |
| [41] | Article 11 Kampala Convention. |
| [42] | Article 12 Kampala Convention. |
| [43] | By section 12 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for any treaty to have the force of law in Nigeria, it must first be passed into law by an Act of the national assembly; see Abacha v. Fawehinmi (2005) 6 N. W. L. R. Part 660 at 240. |
| [44] | Section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended. |
| [45] | Section 16 (2) (d) of the 1999 Constitution as amended. |
| [46] | The legislation in place presently tends to cater more for refugees than for IDPs. e.g The 1951 Refugee Convention. |
| [47] | Forced migration has a distinctive character but under contemporary conditions of global mobility and mixed migration flow, it is not a completely separate phenomenon from regular migration. |
| [48] | Such as Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOS), Host Communities and Individuals. |
APA Style
Alero Toju Akujobi, Ufuoma Veronica Awhefeada. (2021). Migration and Displacement: Legal Constraints of Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria. International Journal of Law and Society, 4(3), 169-176. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210403.13
ACS Style
Alero Toju Akujobi; Ufuoma Veronica Awhefeada. Migration and Displacement: Legal Constraints of Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria. Int. J. Law Soc. 2021, 4(3), 169-176. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210403.13
AMA Style
Alero Toju Akujobi, Ufuoma Veronica Awhefeada. Migration and Displacement: Legal Constraints of Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria. Int J Law Soc. 2021;4(3):169-176. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210403.13
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20210403.13,
author = {Alero Toju Akujobi and Ufuoma Veronica Awhefeada},
title = {Migration and Displacement: Legal Constraints of Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria},
journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
volume = {4},
number = {3},
pages = {169-176},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20210403.13},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210403.13},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20210403.13},
abstract = {This paper sets out to evaluate how displacement impacts on migration in Nigeria. Displaced persons ordinarily suffer from severe deprivations and precarious living conditions; the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic without doubt, worked even more grave hardships on the community of the displaced. This paper ventures into the effects/challenges brought upon displaced persons with regards to the enjoyment and enforcement of human rights and the ability of such persons to abide by the restrictions and regulations guiding conduct of persons during the pandemic. It considers the factors causing displacement and argues that the living conditions of displaced persons leaves them with no option but to disregard the regulations consequent upon the failure of government to put in place enabling conditions that will engender respect and obedience to the regulations. The paper adopts the doctrinal approach and examines the regulations on internally displaced persons (IDPs) through reliance on relevant laws in Nigeria, data collection and existing literature. The paper concludes among others that there is the need for a national legal framework specifically for internally displaced persons that will cater for prevention and management of internal displacement in Nigeria as against the provision of a national policy.},
year = {2021}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Migration and Displacement: Legal Constraints of Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria AU - Alero Toju Akujobi AU - Ufuoma Veronica Awhefeada Y1 - 2021/07/29 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210403.13 DO - 10.11648/j.ijls.20210403.13 T2 - International Journal of Law and Society JF - International Journal of Law and Society JO - International Journal of Law and Society SP - 169 EP - 176 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2640-1908 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210403.13 AB - This paper sets out to evaluate how displacement impacts on migration in Nigeria. Displaced persons ordinarily suffer from severe deprivations and precarious living conditions; the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic without doubt, worked even more grave hardships on the community of the displaced. This paper ventures into the effects/challenges brought upon displaced persons with regards to the enjoyment and enforcement of human rights and the ability of such persons to abide by the restrictions and regulations guiding conduct of persons during the pandemic. It considers the factors causing displacement and argues that the living conditions of displaced persons leaves them with no option but to disregard the regulations consequent upon the failure of government to put in place enabling conditions that will engender respect and obedience to the regulations. The paper adopts the doctrinal approach and examines the regulations on internally displaced persons (IDPs) through reliance on relevant laws in Nigeria, data collection and existing literature. The paper concludes among others that there is the need for a national legal framework specifically for internally displaced persons that will cater for prevention and management of internal displacement in Nigeria as against the provision of a national policy. VL - 4 IS - 3 ER -
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