INTER-COMMUNAL CONFLICT AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS IN NIGERIA

ANALYSIS OF ENUGU AND ANAMBRA STATE, 2000-2007

Abstract

Inter-communal conflict exists in almost all the zones in Nigeria and this has sent some innocent citizens to their untimely graves and properties worth millions of naira have been destroyed, while many have fled their homes for safety. Internal displacement of persons triggered by violent clashes perpetrated by own government or agents of communal/religious clashes, riots, terrorism, and occasional natural disasters has become a formidable problem in Nigeria. In Northern Nigeria, the character of the conflict revolves around farmers and herders, indigene-settler issues sometimes coloured with ethnicity while in Southern Nigeria it is a combination of indigene-settler issues; Farmer-Fulani herdsmen and political resource allocation. It has been observed that most communal conflicts display the paralysis of dialogue between political elites as well as the presence of fundamental socio-economic and political grievances which divide societal groups. The focus of this paper is the study of the underlying social, economic, and political causes of the crises the underlying social, economic, and political causes of the crises. As such the paper employed documentary data for its investigation while content analysis was utilized for data analysis. The paper concludes that the situation constitutes a setback to Nigeria’s development as it compounds and complicates the already existing challenge of poor living standard and invariably accounts for Nigeria’s low development index. The study recommends among others; that Government at all levels should make concerted effort to provide the needs of the displaced persons; expedite actions to contain insurgency and displacements in the country. These could be made possible through integration of local communities in providing security in their domains.