Insurgency: Nigeria inaugurates National Humanitarian Mines Action Committee 

As Nigeria and Nigerians hope for an end to the devastating armed conflict caused by insurgency in the North-eastern region, actions are being taken to handle the impact of mines on the affected communities.

 

The United Nations Humanitarian Programme Cycle 2022 estimates that approximately 1.2 million individuals in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states continue to be affected by the widespread and indiscriminate use of Explosive Ordinance (EO) including refugees, IDPs, returnees and host communities.

 

Additionally, it is on record that since 2016, 755 civilians have been killed and 1,321 injured by explosive devices, a rate of more than one civilian every day.

 

To this end, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development inaugurated a Committee on National Humanitarian Mines Action Plan in Abuja, Nigeria.

 

Inaugurating the Committee, the Minister, Sadiya Umar Farouq said the local communities have no means of dealing with the problem themselves.

“Most do not have the technical capacity or the resources to clear explosive remnants of war safely and the resources needed to deal with the psychological, medical and rehabilitative needs of victims”. 

 

“For a safe return of our IDPs, refugees in the north east, as well as for farming activities to resume, agricultural lands must be surveyed for explosive contamination, and farmers provided with Explosive Ordnance Risk Education”. 

 

She said as seen in other parts of the world, long after conflicts have ended, explosive ordnance could continue to kill, injure and impact the daily life of affected communities.

 

“The most recent incident is August this year where 13 people were killed by explosive ordnances in Bama LGA of Borno State. Given the absence of a comprehensive incident-data-tracking system, these figures are likely to be a significant underestimate. The majority of victims are men involved in farming, travelling and scrap metal collection. Women and children are also at risk while collecting wood, shepherding and playing. Notably, the number of explosive incidents have increased in 2021, with 293 explosive incidents recorded from January to the first week of November 2021 as compared to 295 for the whole of 2020”. 

 

“For the civilians and communities in war-affected areas of the north east, the presence of these weapons represents an ongoing threat. These weapons can also hinder reconstruction and threaten economic livelihood. Houses, hospitals and schools cannot be rebuilt until such weapons are cleared”. 

 

Umar Farouq further explained that Explosive Devices also have adverse impact on health, including an increase in psychosocial distress and Gender Based Violence incidents.

 

Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo said the move was in compliance with the Presidential directive by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 2022 International Humanitarian Day, which was marked nationally in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

 

The Permanent Secretary said many of the mandates of the Ministry has reached maturity and one of such is the inauguration of the National Humanitarian Action Mines Committee.

 

Inaugurating the Committee has become imperative due to the growing concern by the National and international communities.

 

“Today, we are here to witness the inauguration of the committee that will stir the affairs of this programme as well as also educate the general public on the impact of the menace of mines and explosives in communities that have experienced unrest”, Sani-Gwarzo narrated.

 

The Chairman of the Committee, Group Captain Sadeeq Garba Shehu Rtd. recalled that even after the Nigeria’s Civil war of 1967-1970, as recent as 2012 there were explosives caused by mines in the Southeastern part of the country.

 

“This is the issue. The war will end hopefully, but these things remain there. Because of the bombs either from aircraft or artillery they land on a soft place, but they don’t explode. It’s like anything technical. Sometimes they don’t explode, they just wait, little pressure mounted on them and they go off.” 

 

The Chairman of the Committee therefore said there’s need for the general public especially those from the affected communities to be cautious and report any suspected object to the government.

 

The members of the Committee were drawn from Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, the most affected by the insurgency in the Northeast.