Commentary

Insecurity to violence in Northern Nigeria has posed a major challenge since the emergence of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2009. Conflict disrupts health interventions, deprives people of health services, and negatively affects health systems. ^{Reference Lucero-Prisno, Essar and Ahmadi4} This has been further compounded by the recent rise in banditry in the Northwestern and central regions of the country. Amidst the deteriorating security situation, Northern Nigeria has also been plagued with development-related difficulties that have further compounded the insecurity. This posed a serious threat to socio-economic development, most importantly increased unemployment and poverty. ^{Reference Ewetan and Urhie5} This has worsened the hunger situation (chronic and acute); disrupted the supply chain, food supply, and prices; increased food insecurity risk, currency depression, loss of income and remittances; and caused the majority of farmers to be unable to farm their lands. The few farmers who could farm are fearful of transporting their farm produce to markets, thereby creating food shortages.

Social distancing is recognized as the primary policy prescription for combating the COVID-19 pandemic and has been widely adopted across the world. ^{Reference Barnett-Howell and Mobarak6} Social distancing, however, has proven difficult to achieve in different areas across the North. The displacement of people from their homes during the pandemic due to banditry and insurgency made people abandon their homes and communities thus flaunting social distancing guidelines. Various internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps across the North are generally in poor hygienic conditions. Infection prevention practices further expose the IDPs to COVID-19. Moreover, hospitals have also been destroyed as a result of the insecurity in various areas in the North, which has made the management of the disease difficult for the State governments concerned.

Insecurity had also led to a rise in poverty in the North, and just like many regions around the world, in battling poverty, poor people are less willing to make economic sacrifices, as they place relatively greater value on their livelihood concerns compared with contracting COVID-19. ^{Reference Agbiboa7}

In the wake of the pandemic, nonessential movements may have lulled under a nationwide lockdown, but not the insurgent violence of Boko Haram. ⁸ This worsened the panic and devastation posed by COVID-19 among people of Northern Nigeria. In 2019 alone, 180,000 people fled their homes in Northeastern Nigeria following an upsurge in the fighting. Likewise, in the Northwestern and the middle belts, crises such as farmers-herders clashes, banditry, kidnapping, and cattle rustling have displaced many people from their places of residence. The displacement of the people made it almost impossible for the government to effectively contain the spread of the virus, despite measures imposed by the Federal Government such as the lockdown, social distancing, and the use of face masks in public places. The Boko Haram insurgency has killed more than 36,000 people and displaced at least 2 million people in Northeastern Nigeria since 2009. People fleeing from Boko Haram increasingly take up shelter in the relative safety of urban centers. ^{Reference Lucero-Prisno, Adebisi and Lin9} The fleeing population caused overcrowding in IDP camps and the relatively safe urban centers such as Maiduguri, Yola, Gombe, and Damaturu, which made social distancing a mirage further increasing the spread of COVID-19. People in these IDP camps across the nation are at high risk of contracting the virus due to the new arrivals from COVID-19-affected villages fueled by overcrowding (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Map of Nigeria showing the 6 geopolitical regions of the country.

As the number of COVID-19 cases rises, many Nigerians feel the immediate economic impact of the restrictions on movement. For some of the displaced people who have lost everything, including their social support networks, the blow has become extremely difficult. ^{Reference Adewunmi and Imienwain10} This has caused increased difficulties among the most vulnerable populations such as children, women, and the elderly.

Recommendations

Northern Nigeria and its government are battling many rebellion wars, banditry, kidnapping, clashes between herders and farmers, and now, the COVID-19 pandemic. It is recommended that proactive steps should be implemented from all stakeholders concerned to tackle insecurity. The government should be sure to listen to and support communities to address the dual contagion of insecurity and coronavirus, restructure the security architecture, provide an enabling environment for training and retraining of all security personnel, and enhance intelligence gathering, which will pave the way for overcoming this issue. To pilot sustainable food production, it is recommended that the government should invest heavily on the agricultural sector through effective policies to procure critical equipment, machinery, and manpower, particularly for young people. This would decrease the incidence and effects of social vices, provide jobs for the idle and jobless youth, supply food to value chains, restore the economy, and by extension put an end to food insecurity in the North and other regions of the country.

In addition, basic necessities such as food, shelter, basic health care, and other social support programs in the form of palliative measures should be provided for free to the vulnerable groups that are worst affected. Strategies should be put in place by the government in collaboration with the communities to ensure that the palliative measures reach the intended target population, while the necessary COVID-19 infection prevention and control protocols are strictly adhered to by all.