Assessment of the Living Conditions of Internally Displaced Persons in Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Internally Displaced persons (IDPs) are mostly victims of various kinds of injustices or violent confrontations,
perpetrated by either their own government against them or by others. The study assessed the living conditions
of IDPs in Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria. The objectives were to examine the living conditions of IDPs and
assess the coping strategies IDPs have developed to survive. Questionnaire was the main instrument for
collecting data which was complemented by in-depth interviews. A total of 335respondents were sampled for
the study. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data collected using SPSS version 20. The results were
presented in form of tables, frequencies and percentages. The result showed that St. Theresa Cathedral and
Malkohi camps had more females (66%) than males. A high percentage of the respondents were widows (46%)
and all respondents were displaced as a result of insurgency in Northeastern Nigeria. The major needs of IDPs
on the camps were food, hygiene, health and psychosocial support as these were all lacking. The coping
strategies adopted by the IDPs to survive include: reliance on food aid from government; non-governmental
organizations, and individuals (49%); moving out of the camps for emergency health care (49%); organizing
sanitation activities (100%), engaging in recreational activities for psychosocial therapy (63%). Thus, all
government agencies responsible for protecting and assisting IDPs and other local and international
humanitarian actors must therefore ensure effective measures are put in place to provide suitable
accommodation, livelihood assistance, medical facilities and psychotherapy to improveon the deterioration
conditions IDPs are living in.