Life after terror: Stories from Nigerian refugees in Cameroon
They fled one of West Africa’s deadliest conflicts to find refuge in northern Cameroon. Many of these Nigerian survivors of the Boko Haram insurgency have lost everything and are desperate to rebuild their lives. They are also torn between going home or remaining in Minawao refugee camp.
MINAWAO, Cameroon — It’s raining this morning on the road to Minawao camp, located in Cameroon’s Far North region. The sky is gray and a gentle breeze caresses the face. The rainy season acts as a parenthesis; for a moment, rains and lower temperatures provide a breath of fresh air.
On the way to the camp, the hills rise majestically. A mysterious fog envelops the area. Frequent rains during this period cover the land with a fine layer of green.
Located at about 100 km from the Nigerian border, Minawao camp welcomes tens of thousands of refugees. All are Nigerians who fled the years-long Boko Haram insurgency, whose fallout has spilled into neighboring countries. Some have been here since 2013, when the camp was established.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) started its operations in Minawao the same year. Today, the agency distributes monthly food rations to the refugees, including rice and oil. WFP also gives nutritional support to children under two.
Minawao looks like a city; there is even an outdoor market, shops, a health center and recreation areas for children. Tents are lined up, side by side. In some sectors of the camp stand modest houses of hardened mud.
Kids are running everywhere, their innocent laughter resonating in this organized chaos.
But in this place full of life, everybody arrives with a dark history — and also hopes and fears.
Philibus Amos, 77 and a father of six, is blind. He fled his village in Gwoza, in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno State, and found refuge here.
“We were forced to flee. Boko Haram has attacked our village and they set fire to everything. I can still hear the screams of that night,” he recalls of the militant group.
Since its establishment, the camp’s population has skyrocketed from 6,000 refugees to almost 65,000. Many, like Philibus, depend on WFP’s distributions to survive.
“If it wasn’t WFP’s food, we might be dead by now,” he says. “Life is very hard in this camp.”
Asked whether he would like to return to Nigeria, his answer is immediate.
”What for?” he asks. “I lost everything there. At least here I have peace and my children are safe.”
Standing at the gate of the family home, a woman watches us carefully. Laraba, 25 and mother of two is Philibus’ daughter-in-law. She is the one who cooks for the entire family and she is very proud of that.
“We don’t have a lot, but I do my best to ensure everyone has enough to eat,” she says.
Despite their current plight, Philibus and his family see their future in Cameroon.
“I am building a new life for my family in Cameroon,” he says.
But former farmer Bitrus Ishaka is frustrated with refugee life.
Today, the 58-year-old Nigerian paces around his small grain mill at the entrance of his house. This father of eight arrived at Minawao in 2014 from Agapalwa, just across the border from Cameroon.
Like many other camp residents, Bitrus has found a way to earn a little cash; he invested his meager savings in the mill. But the money he earns from grinding his neighbors’ corn cannot meet his family’s needs.
“The food rations we receive are not enough to cover our needs until the end of the month. And there is no drinking water here,” Bitrus shouts. “I want to go back to Nigeria.”
He misses his farm, where he once grew millet and sorghum. But despite the frustrations of life in Minawao, he remains optimistic.
“I have great hopes for the future. I believe that very soon I will be farming again with my children in my homeland,” says Bitrus.
So for many, it is a waiting game. Waiting, like Philibus, to start a new life here. Or, like Bitrus, to go home.
Find out more about WFP’s work in Cameroon.
