COVID-19 and the State of Conflict-Induced Internally Displaced Persons in North-Eastern Borno State of Nigeria

Abstract

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had adverse effects on the health and socio-economic lives of people all over the world. These effects could be disproportionately felt by vulnerable populations of which conflict-induced internally displaced persons (IDPs) are part of. While attention is often focused on the effect of the pandemic on other populations, vulnerable populations like the IDPs are often neglected. This article fills this gap by examining the state of conflict-induced IDPs in conflict-ridden Borno State of Nigeria in the face of the pandemic. The article adopts an exploratory research design and the qualitative method, using primary data sourced from semi-structured interviews, and analyses the data using discourse analysis. Findings show that given the living conditions in the IDP camps, social/physical distancing was difficult to practice, that special measures were put in place to protect IDPs from contracting the virus; that the lockdown occasioned by COVID-19 had an adverse effect on the welfare of IDPs; and that the pandemic brought new health and safety challenges in the IDP camps, but not security challenges. The article concludes that the pandemic had adversely impacted the lives of conflict-induced IDPs, albeit, it had not spread among them.