“Our town was invaded. There were shootings, killings and burnings," says Maryam (27).
Maryam, her husband and their four children are among 14.8 million people affected by the brutal conflict and severe, humanitarian crisis in northeast Nigeria. Nigeria is one of nine countries in the Sahel, which tops NRC’s list of the world’s 10 most neglected forced displacement crises.
Read more: The world's 10 most neglected crises
The crisis in the northeast, seemingly forgotten by the world, has caused massive displacements and suffering. Maryam recalls how insurgents invaded their town Mafa and started shooting, killing people and burning houses.
Killing men
“They started killing men. My husband was slaughtered in my presence.”
Maryam managed to escape and flee to safety with her children.
“I was so afraid,” she says.She and the children spent two days in the bush without access to food and water. On the third day, they were picked up by people in a vehicle who safely transported them to Maiduguri, the capital of the conflict-ridden province of Borno.
Cannot go back
They are presently living with relatives in the town Bulabulini. Her relatives help them with everything. Maryam does not have a source of income.
“I cannot go back to the town because they have killed my husband and there is still no peaceful living in the town,” she says. When she thinks about the death of her husband, she can hardly sleep. She also worries a lot for her children and their future opportunities.
Wants education
“We don’t have enough food, we don’t have enough clothes to wear and I want to enroll them into school. My wish is for my children to get educated,” she says, adding that she also wants to go to school and get an education herself.
“I also need something to do that enables me to take care of my children.”
BACKGROUND
- Since 2009, violent attacks on civilians by the armed group Boko Haram have left widespread devastation in northeast Nigeria.
- At least 17,000 people have been killed and approximately two million people are displaced within Nigeria.
- Over 14 million people are affected by the crisis. Out of these, seven million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
- Around 92 per cent of displaced people reside in either informal settlements or with low-income host communities, creating a strain on already limited resources. The remaining 8 per cent live in more formalised camps.
- About 32 per cent of displaced households are female-headed households.
- NRC has been in Nigeria since 2015.
Read more on our country page for Nigeria
