Abstract:

This paper seeks to identify the remote and immediate causes of violations of the rights of internally displaced persons (IDP’s) in Abuja, and how best to remedy them. The paper also examines how well the provisions of the Kampala Convention have been applied in view of the fact that Nigeria is yet to domesticate and adopt the Convention into Nigerian law. With the aid of library and survey research, especially from interviews with practitioners, findings indicate that the main challenge is identified as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) not owning the crisis of IDPs within their midst and not according them their rights as full citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with the right to settle anywhere within the country’s territory. Resultantly, no budget provisions have been made in respect of the IDPs and therein flows the inability to provide for the meaningful care of the people at the various locations. The inability to provide adequate food, shelter, medical facilities and care all stem from this root cause. The paper concludes that the situation in the IDP locations all over Nigeria and no less applicable in the FCT is one of an impending humanitarian crises of monumental proportions. UNICEF on a recent visit predicted that over two hundred and fifty thousand children under the age of five years would be suffering from acute malnutrition within the year if no serious intervention is undertaken to halt the current trend of malnutrition, disease and hunger in the camps and one child in every five dying was a grave possibility. The paper recommends registration of the IDPs in order to aid in identifying them and their needs.