LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPS) IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The phenomenon of internal displacement has been on the increase in recent years, and the trend continues to rise. The immediate past Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon stated in 2014 that displacement remains arguably the most significant humanitarian challenge facing the world. For instance, there were over 30 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the world as of 2014, with about one-half of this figure in Sub-Saharan Africa alone, and Nigeria taking the lead. As the number of IDPs continues to skyrocket, attempts at management become more challenging for riddled countries such as Nigeria. This study discusses some of the applicable legal regimes and institutions responsible for the protection of IDPs and the extent to which they are being applied in Nigeria. This work is conceptual and doctrinal in approach; hence secondary sources of data were mainly consulted alongside with personal interviews with resource persons. The study found out that there is gross negligence by the country in the assistance and protection of IDPs as far as International law is concerned. In addition, there is gross violation of IDPs rights in Nigerian as the capacity of the institutions created to effectively manage their affairs are limited. The avalanche of IDPs requires improved management and preventive measures through more effective legal and regulatory regimes as suggested in this paper. Furthermore, the study recommends that internal conflicts should be prevented in such a way that people should not be forced to leave their homes.