The Yelwata Protest and the Broken Promises

Nigeria’s Forgotten Millions: The Yelwata Protest and the Broken Promises to IDPs

🛑 "We are starving. We are sick. We are forgotten." These were the unspoken cries that echoed through the streets of Makurdi on June 19, 2025, as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Yelwata in Benue State blocked major roads, desperate to be seen and heard. Their protest was not just a plea—it was an indictment of a system that has systematically failed Nigeria’s most vulnerable citizens.

🏚️ Life at the Margins

Yelwata’s IDPs aren’t asking for miracles, just the bare minimum to survive. Yet, their camps tell a harrowing story: no mattresses, no medical care, not even mosquito nets to ward off sickness. Children sleep on concrete floors, pregnant women endure without healthcare, and food has become a luxury, not a right.

From Benue to Borno, from Nasarawa to Adamawa, the situation repeats like a broken record: overcrowding, hunger, disease, and death. Cholera outbreaks rage. Babies are born into squalor. And in the midst of it all, emergency relief is slow, sparse, and in some cases—stolen.

Bureaucracy Over Humanity

The agencies meant to protect and provide, like the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and state-level counterparts (SEMA)—are locked in a dangerous dance of delay and denial. While aid shipments are promised, reports swirl of corruption and diversion. Relief materials meant for the displaced never reach them. And when questions arise, the blame game begins.

In Benue, accusations against SEMA include abandoning camps entirely. In Adamawa, unrest broke out when food distributions failed yet again. These are not isolated cases, they reveal a culture where political optics often trump human dignity.

Power, Palliatives, and the Privileged Few

Ironically, Nigeria has distributed billions in palliatives to cushion its economic challenges. But where are those resources going? In many cases, into the hands of the connected and powerful, bypassing IDPs altogether.

Local governments and traditional institutions receive funds but too often do nothing, citing "limited resources" while refusing to enact their constitutional duty. Aid becomes a privilege for the well-positioned, not the displaced.

A Call to Action: From Promises to Priorities

The Yelwata protest is more than a cry for food, it's a clarion call to reform a broken system. It demands that legislators:

• Enforce transparency in relief distribution
• Hold corrupt officials accountable
• Increase budgetary allocations for IDPs
• Mandate independent audits of relief agencies

Let’s delve deeper into this particular angle:

A Call to Action: From Promises to Priorities

The protests in Yelwata are not just an alarm bell—they are a final warning. For too long, Nigeria has approached its displaced citizens with half-measures and hollow gestures. Now is the time to pivot from performative sympathy to purposeful action. Here’s how that transformation must unfold:

Budget Reforms That Reflect Human Worth

• Prioritize IDPs in national and state budgets: Fund allocations must match the scale of the crisis. IDPs need to be at the heart, not the fringe, of development plans.
• Dedicated emergency funds: These must be insulated from political influence and accessible during crises without bureaucratic delays.

Laws With Teeth

• Transparency legislation: Nigeria needs enforceable laws that mandate open tracking of all aid, from warehouse to camp.
• Punitive measures for diversion: Relief theft shouldn’t be a slap-on-the-wrist offense; it’s a betrayal of the vulnerable and should be treated as such.
• Citizen monitoring rights: Give communities the right to access records and report discrepancies anonymously.

Accountability Starts at the Top

• Independent audits of NEMA and SEMA: Regular performance reviews and audits should be published publicly.
• Leadership reshuffles: Where negligence or corruption is proven, immediate personnel changes must follow.
• Camp Ombudsman System: A neutral body that IDPs can report to directly for grievances without fear of retaliation.

Grassroots Power, Not Just Top-Down Plans

• Mobilize traditional rulers and local leaders: They're closer to the people and often more trusted, but they need support, training, and clear mandates.
• Community-led aid distribution: Involving IDPs themselves in decision-making brings dignity and minimizes mismanagement.

Technology for Transparency

• Real-time dashboards for aid delivery accessible online
• SMS systems for IDPs to confirm receipt of aid or report abuse
• Biometric registration to prevent ghost beneficiaries and ensure fair distribution

Reframe the Narrative

This isn’t charity, it’s justice. Displacement often stems from state failures: conflict, poor governance, or insecurity. Supporting IDPs is not optional. It’s part of Nigeria’s constitutional and moral contract with its citizens.

If Nigeria must weather this storm and emerge with a stronger social fabric, it must do so by putting its most vulnerable at the center of every policy and every budget line. The difference between survival and suffering lies not in capacity, but in commitment.

Local communities, too, must step up, working hand-in-hand with NGOs and grassroots leaders to ensure no IDP is left behind.

Hope Amid Hardship

Nigeria has over 3 million displaced citizens. Their suffering is not inevitable—it’s a result of choices. As the rains approach and security remains fragile, the urgency is real.

The choice before us is simple: continue neglecting the displaced, or finally act with the courage and compassion this crisis demands.

Let’s choose to remember them. Let’s choose to restore their dignity.