How Boko Haram survivors are rebuilding their lives in Borno town

Tens of thousands of Nigerians have lost their homes and livelihoods in the conflict between the military and the Boko Haram sect in the north-east.

Displacement and fear have shaped their lives, leading many to flee to Pulka, a town in Borno state.

Ahmed, a 57-year-old man, frowned as he spoke. Suddenly and surprisingly, his mood changed and he started smiling.

He paused, closed his eyes and shook his his head. He spoke about life back home in Kirawa, a village in Borno, recollected when everything was normal.

To prove his point, Ahmed reached into his pocket and produced four ID cards. One of the ID cards was that of his wife, another showed his membership of a political party that is no longer existing, while the other two identified him as a member of two farmers’ associations.

For Ahmed, it means a great deal to be officially recognised as a farmer.

“I could farm up to 20 bags of grain a year in Kirawa,” he said putting up a smile.

“I farmed guinea corn, maize, onions, tomatoes and other crops. We were farming all through the year, during both the rainy and dry seasons.”

That was when there was peace, before the conflict between government troops and Boko Haram disrupted people’s lives and forced Ahmed and his family to flee to Cameroon, just across the border separated by a river.

In Cameroon, he lived for one year before deciding to join others going back to Nigeria because of the constant harassment by Cameroonian soldiers.

CONFLICT IN NIGERIA, PROBLEMS IN CAMEROON

“They kept pushing us to leave. In such a situation, what were we to do? We had heard that other Nigerians in other places were being loaded in trucks and taken away and we did not want to wait for that to happen,” he said.

“So, we decided to leave before they took us somewhere we did not know.

“We gathered together and left around 3am and around 8 am, we were already at the military checkpoint and screening point before entering Pulka, a town which is 15 kilometres from Cameroon.”

Because they left on their own, they were fortunate to have time to pack their few belongings, unlike others in other parts of the country.

On a daily basis, many arrive Pulka from surrounding villages in the Gwoza region of Borno.

These are people who have been trapped for years by the conflict and have been unable to leave their villages. Some manage to get out in the middle of the night, while some are picked up by soldiers when they go out on operations.

Since December 2016, when the military intensified its operations, the numbers have increased and Pulka has registered more than 11,300 new arrivals over this period.

“I came with my daughter from Barawa (in February) because of the insurgency. I spent three days on the road with my daughter strapped to my back,” Aisha, a woman whose father was taken by Boko Haram and killed about a year ago, said.

“It was difficult to keep up with the other people we were travelling with. I had to keep walking because they would not wait for me to rest.”

Those arriving the town said they found it difficult to survive in the places they came from. There are no functioning hospitals or markets because they have been burnt down or demolished, and their farming activities were very limited. As a result, most of them arrive in poor condition due to the deprivations they have had to endure.

They look weak and hungry, with some of them being carried in handcarts; many of the children have conjunctivitis.

A CHALLENGING LIFE IN PULKA

More than 42,000 people are estimated to be living now in Pulka. They are made up of internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees and members of the host community who were not able to flee when Boko Haram attacked the town.

The security situation in the town is still volatile, and movements in and out are highly regulated by the military, leaving people unable to go very far to farm or fetch firewood.

This is why residents largely depend on food distributions made by government or NGOs. However, despite the availability of food, people still go hungry, sometimes for days, because of the lack of firewood. Two pieces of firewood cost N50, which is expensive for the people and not enough to cook a family meal.

As Pulka continues to receive new arrivals of people, this only puts more pressure on the infrastructure, especially healthcare and water, due to the very limited presence of humanitarian actors.

Names in this story have been changed for security reasons