By Mike Odeh James, Kaduna
A decade of relentless conflict and insecurity has displaced millions of Nigerians, plunging them into what humanitarian advocates describe as an “existential crisis.” At the 10th House of Justice Summit in Kaduna, legal experts and former government officials united in a powerful demand: Nigeria must urgently shift its internally displaced persons (IDPs) from camps back to their communities, with justice and accountability at the core.
The summit, themed “From Camps to Justice & Communities,” laid bare the devastating human toll of Nigeria’s deteriorating security situation, as speakers condemned a government approach that, they argued, too often rewards perpetrators while neglecting victims.
The Scale of the Catastrophe: Over 3.4 Million Displaced
Representing former Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, his ex-Chief of Staff, Mr Ade Ipaye, called the crisis “a big challenge deserving of very urgent attention and practical, effective solutions.”
Citing the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), Osinbajo revealed that more than 3.4 million Nigerians were displaced by the end of 2024, with women and children forming the majority.
“These are people who leave behind properties acquired over a lifetime and enter into a new life of abject poverty and destitution,” he said.
He highlighted severe struggles inside IDP facilities, which grapple with overcrowding, malnutrition, and inadequate shelter, healthcare, and education.
Warning that children denied schooling risk perpetuating the crisis across generations, the former Vice President urged the summit to craft a comprehensive strategy covering emergency aid, rehabilitation, reintegration—and, crucially, justice.
Fierce Critique: When Government Policy Rewards Terror
In a searing welcome address, Gloria Mabeiam Ballason Esq, Chief Executive of House of Justice, accused the state of dangerously incentivising criminality.
Ballason pointed out that in states like Plateau, Benue, and Kaduna, hundreds of communities remain displaced while insurgents occupy ancestral lands.
Yet the national response has poured significant resources into non-kinetic rehabilitation programmes for insurgents—such as Operation Safe Corridor—while victims receive neither justice nor reparations.
“When government uses taxpayers’ money to invest in terrorists and criminals, the message received is that terrorism is state-sponsored and a lucrative trade,” Ballason declared, warning that this risks turning victims into combatants.
She insisted that sustainable peace requires a new moral framework centred on the suffering.
“Victims need justice. Victims need reparations. Victims need psychosocial healing. Victims need to vacate IDP camps and return safely to their autochthonous communities,” she stressed.
The Legal Roadmap: Domesticating Kampala and Enforcing Rights
Delivering the keynote, Prof. Dakas C.J. Dakas, SAN, Chairman of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission, presented a robust legal pathway to transform IDP protection from policy into enforceable rights.
He noted that although Nigeria ratified the 2009 Kampala Convention—Africa’s landmark treaty on IDP protection—it has failed to domesticate it, leaving its provisions without legal force domestically.
“What we have is a National Policy on IDPs,” Dakas explained, “but its legal status and scope render it insufficient to guarantee comprehensive protection.”
Warning that impunity “metastasizes” when wrongdoers believe they will never face accountability, he insisted displacement cannot be resolved without prosecuting those responsible.
Prof. Dakas proposed three durable pathways forward: safe, voluntary return to ancestral lands with security guarantees; local integration through land rights, housing, and livelihoods; and planned resettlement with full infrastructure for those unable to return.
Key Legislative and Judicial Imperatives
The legal scholar urged urgent reforms: domestication of the Kampala Convention through a National IDP Rights Act, creation of a National Reparations Fund, establishment of fast-track courts for land and human rights disputes, and passage of anti-land-grabbing laws modelled on Plateau State’s legislation.
He also advocated strategic litigation to hold the state accountable whenever it fails to prevent attacks, aids or acquiesces in violence, or denies remedy. Additionally, he called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide mobile voter registration and special polling units in camps to safeguard displaced citizens’ voting rights.
A Call for Moral Courage
The summit ended with unequivocal consensus: Nigeria’s humanitarian catastrophe is inseparable from a profound justice crisis. The millions languishing in camps symbolise a national failure of accountability that is tearing at the country’s social fabric.
As participants departed, they carried Gloria Ballason’s closing rallying cry, framing displacement as a battle for Nigeria’s very soul:
“We have lost too much. We cannot afford to lose ourselves. We are all we have.”
The message was unmistakable: only justice—not charity—can form the foundation of Nigeria’s response. Only through unwavering commitment to accountability can millions finally move from camps to communities, safety, dignity, and home.
