The Foundation for Peace Professionals (PeacePro) has called on the federal government to adopt a 2 year national plan to phase out long term Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps .
It urged the government to replace such IDPs camp with purpose built communities where displaced Nigerians can rebuild their lives with dignity, security and economic opportunities.
PeacePro said Nigeria’s displacement crisis, triggered largely by the Boko Haram insurgency since 2009, has persisted for more than 15 years and can no longer be treated as a temporary humanitarian emergency.
PeacePro warned that the country is gradually creating a lost generation of children and young people who have spent their formative years in camps instead of classrooms, workplaces and thriving communities.
In a statement signed by its executive director, Abdulrazaq Hamzat, the organisation said” the greatest victory over terrorism will not be won on the battlefield alone. It will be won when displaced families regain their dignity, children reclaim their future and communities destroyed by violence become centres of prosperity. Nigeria must stop managing displacement and start rebuilding lives.”