IDP Chronicles: How 7-year-old girl was orphaned by bandits in Niger

Mercy Danjuma is a seven-year-old girl from Kaure in Erena town, Shiroro LGA of Niger state. The bright-eyed child, who gladly announced her name when asked, couldn’t remember much when it came to the whereabouts of her parents.

Mercy has been living with a relative, simply identified as Aunt Teni, since she lost her parents to two separate attacks by gunmen.

According to Teni, Mercy’s mother died after bandits attacked Kaure while her father was killed on his farm a year later.

“Danjuma was on his farm at about 5pm when they killed him. We were told he was killed while hiding from them,” she said.

Mercy’s aunt recounted how she fled with the child during one of the attacks, and sought refuge under rocks.

She said at the time, for fear of being killed, residents deserted their homes during the day and sneaked back into the community at intervals to find food.

Teni said for over two months, the bush became home for Mercy, her older sister, alongside her own five children — before they eventually relocated to the internally displaced persons camp in Gwada primary school, Niger state.

“I used to cultivate rice, yam, soya beans, and maize, but not anymore. My husband provides what we eat. Whenever he can’t, I do my best to provide because we must eat to survive,” she said.

Mercy has never had any formal education mainly due to insecurity, and these days, she goes with her aunt to the farms in neighbouring villages.

According to Teni, the public school in Kaure was destroyed by bandits, and there are no teachers willing to remain in the community, while most residents have abandoned the area.

However, the Niger state government says security forces have been deployed to banditry-affected areas in Niger state, and that IDPs occupying both primary and secondary schools in Gwada town are said to have started returning to their various villages and communities.

As the returning residents gradually pick up the pieces of their lives, hopefully, schools such as the one destroyed in Kaure will be rebuilt, so that children like Mercy do not become another statistic like the 10.5 million out-of-school children currently scattered across Nigeria.