3.5.1. Refugees, asylum seekers and IDPs

3.5.1. Refugees, asylum seekers and IDPs

UNHCR indicated that, at the end of 2024, over 60 % of IDPs lived in host communities, and 40 % in camps with limited basic services.1107 In Borno state, for example, there were over two million IDPs, with 900 000 lacking electricity, clean water, shelter, and other essential services. Although Borno aided around 3 200 IDP households with cash, food, and shelter, inflation and currency devaluation hindered these state efforts.1108 According to UNHCR, 46 % of IDP sites in the North-East are located in flood-prone and overcrowded areas, and IDPs often lack land tenure agreements, leaving them vulnerable to eviction.1109 In the South-South, 78 % of refugees live in host communities, ‘integrating with ease and able to work’.1110 The same source indicated that about 1 900 refugees were enrolled in social protection policies and 500 in health insurance plans in Cross River State and Akwa Ibom.1111

UNHCR indicated that the proportion of people residing in physically safe and secure settlements in 2024, with access to basic facilities, was 2.08 % among IDPs and 100 % among refugees and asylum seekers.1112 The proportion of people living in habitable and affordable housing in 2024 was 62.1 % for IDPs, 28.43 % for refugees and asylum seekers, and 98.11 % of returnees. The same source indicated that 5.12 % of IDPs and 11.82 % of refugees and asylum seekers had access to electricity. Additionally, 45 830 IDPs and 27 400 refugees and asylum seekers received shelter and housing assistance.1113 In Borno state, the government and UNHCR provided, in 2024, 110 ‘sustainable housing units’ to returnees, and over 2 900 ‘vulnerable’ households were supported with emergency shelter.1114 In the South-South, 104 internally displaced families received assistance to repair their homes.1115 UNHCR also trained over 15 500 refugee households on water treatment and safe storage; supported the deployment of real-time monitoring devices and data collection for 15 water facilities across refugee settlements in Benue and Cross River States; and built 500 latrines and 566 handwashing facilities, benefitting approximately 10 000 people.1116

FEWS NET noted that most urban IDPs in the North-West, particularly in Sokoto, Katsina, and Zamfara states, resort to ‘negative livelihood coping strategies’ including begging and prostitution to deal with food insecurity, and the worst-off households rely on food-based coping strategies, including skipping meals or going days without eating’.1117