Witnessing Risk and Resilience in Nigeria’s IDP Camps

In November 2025, Arise Nigeria Country Coordinator, Chinomso Osuji, visited several IDP camps across Benue state and the Federal Capital Territory where Arise projects are being delivered by frontline partners. She shares below her reflections on the highly relevant work being carried out.  

*We have intentionally avoided disclosing the names and specific locations of any of our frontline partners to protect their identity. If you would like to find out more about our work with them and how you can support us, please get in touch.

Over the last year, Arise has been responding to growing concerns of trafficking and exploitation within Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camps across Nigeria, due to ongoing conflict and insecurity in parts of the country. In November 2025, I visited our partners delivering projects aimed at preventing trafficking amongst these vulnerable populations,  hoping to understand the realities of displacement, listen to the voices of the displaced and witness first-hand the impact of interventions being supported through this partnership. 

Throughout my visit, I spent time walking through the camps; listening to men, women and children share their stories of loss, survival and resilience. Many spoke about the support they have received from a wide range of donors and organisations. Yet, behind every word of gratitude was an unmistakable pain, the trauma of violent displacement that still lingers years later. In heartbreaking conversations, I heard accounts of kidnapping and the sale of children, early and forced marriages driven by hardship, and incidents of sexual violence within the camps. These are not just statistics, they are real stories of human suffering and resilience.

The camp leaders, many of whom are also displaced persons themselves, carry an immense burden. They battle deep personal trauma while serving as pillars of support for their communities. Their leadership is a daily act of courage, even as they navigate the same struggles such as hunger, insecurity, and the emotional toll of displacement.

I also witnessed the difficult living conditions firsthand; inadequate food supplies, poor sanitation, limited access to healthcare and a lack of livelihood opportunities. Cooking utensils and firewood were scarce and families struggled to make do with the little they had. Worryingly, there were weak to non-existent child protection and safeguarding protocols in these camps, with limited awareness on reporting mechanisms in instances of abuse.

In collaboration with Arise, our partners are implementing several life-transforming initiatives to strengthen protection and resilience in the camps. These include capacity-building training for IDP camp leaders, government officials, IDPs, and host community leaders to prevent and respond to Human Trafficking and related abuses. The training also supports the design of camp-based prevention and response systems, ensuring that solutions are locally owned and sustainable. Camp members are provided psychosocial support and livelihood support to help families regain a sense of stability and self-reliance.

Our partners have strong relationships with camp members and are deeply trusted. They understand and value the pride the IDPs have for their identity and culture, recognising that rituals and traditions help build their resilience as communities and their determination to rebuild their lives. 

One particularly impactful component that reinforces these cultural ties is awareness creation through Theatre for Development (TFD). Using cultural dance and drama, our partners are deepening trust with IDPs in ways that conventional awareness methods often cannot achieve. This culturally grounded approach has encouraged IDPs to open up and share deeply personal experiences and stories of losing children, cases of sexual violence, and other painful realities they had long been afraid to speak about. Between September 2025 and present day our partners have carried out 14 Theatre for Development (T4D) events across 12 IDP Camps in Benue State and FCT, Abuja.

From my observations, for human trafficking awareness and response to be truly effective, it must begin with empathy and trust. Sitting and listening, really listening to IDPs as they share their stories of trauma, no matter how long it takes, is in itself therapeutic and restorative. It makes individuals feel heard, valued and respected. Equally, I saw that food, music, drama and cultural inclusion, though they may seem insignificant, are powerful tools for building trust and fostering respect. Recognizing and celebrating their culture not only restores dignity but also drives the attitudinal and behavioural changes that underpin meaningful Human Trafficking awareness and prevention.

The visit revealed alarming and complex trafficking-related risks within the IDP camps, driven by poverty, misinformation, and weak protection structures. Our projects are addressing these challenges by coordinating a multi-sectoral approach involving government agencies, humanitarian actors and community leadership to ensure the safety, dignity and rights of displaced persons are fully protected.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be shining a light on further insights we have gained from project partners and by speaking to IDP camp members.

(People gather around to watch a Theatre for Development performance at an IDP camp)