PROTECTION OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED CHILDREN IN NIGERIA: NEED FOR SHARED AND COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY

Abstract

Internal displacement is a global phenomenon that has recently attracted much publicity with little global attention. There is virtually no country in the world that has not experienced internal displacement of its citizens either as a result of natural or man-made disasters. However, Africa hosts over one-third of the global forced displacement with the greater number of victims being children. Unfortunately, since the detection of this worldwide menace, efforts made to address and arrest the situation remain insignificant in comparison with the rate of the displacement. The consequences of internal displacement on the life and development of the child are dire ranging from child mortality, sexual exploitation, health challenges and involvement in criminal activities amongst other which have a ripple effect on the larger society. To properly address this problem of displacement, the law has placed a responsibility on nation states to provide the necessary protection to the displaced child. This article, therefore, takes a journey into examining the laws relating to the protection of internally displaced children in Nigeria with a view to determining how this responsibility has been fulfilled. The doctrinal method of research was adopted based on primary and secondary sources. It was discovered that the undue concentration of the responsibility over IDCs on the national government is the major cause of the setback in achieving adequate protection for the internally displaced child. The article concluded that the problem of the internally displaced child is not necessarily the absence of laws but the inadequacy and lack of implementation of the extant laws. It is recommended inter alia that protection of internally displaced child should be the collective responsibility of the three tiers of government with clear delimitations of their powers in law and not policy.