JOSIAH WANGAE, a Kenyan, makes his living in Nigeria’s theater of death. In Maiduguri, Borno State, Wangae prowls the killing fields, where local military fight terrorist sect, Boko Haram, off the streets and desert tracts. Sometimes, the insurgents perform a bloody conquest and Wangae gets trapped in the middle of it.
Just recently, he got caught in a terrorist attack in Konduga. “It was a very close shave. I almost lost my life in the attack. I was in the area for field work when the insurgents (Boko Haram) invaded the town. They shot at everyone. They killed people and kidnapped underage children. It was a very sad incident,” said the staff of a United Nations (UN) multilateral health group.
In the wake of the attack, several local and international aid workers fled the scene of mayhem. But the Kenyan resolutely stayed back. Like he did in conflict zones in Syria and Afghanistan, Wangae dug into the trenches of pain and human need at Konduga.
“Somebody has to help. Somebody has to go where nobody else would go. I have a wife and infant sons back in my country. It’s not easy working and staying so far away from them but my wife understands. I hope my children do too as they grow older. It’s not easy but my loved ones take solace in the fact that the work I do and the people I work for, are committed to helping the needy and making the world a better place,” he said.
Indeed, Wangae dares ‘what nobody else would.’ He ventures where too many of his peers would abstain. To the middle aged man and father of two, the possibility of dying or getting abducted, does not deter him from assisting displaced persons and several other victims of Boko Haram’s bloody campaign across Nigeria’s northeast.
But it is not all close shaves and lucky breaks for the aid workers and his colleagues. Wangae remembers with regret, the tragic death of his friends and colleagues in the dismal Rann bombing on January 17. “The loss is inestimable,” he said.
Corroborating him, Husseinah Abdullahi, a paramedic with a sister UN agency stated that the the humanitarian community lost irreplaceable staff in the mishap. “I lost very dear friends at Rann. The disaster could have been avoided,” she said.
The Rann tragedy
Death came to Rann in common hours. It arrived in a hail of fire, consuming children and parents while they queued for food and relief materials at the district’s Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp.
In the incident, a military jet dropped two bombs on the camp for displaced persons in Rann, in Kala-balge Local Government Area where thousands of displaced persons are housed, killing at least 50 persons and leaving about 200 others injured.
At the time of the attack, aid distribution was taking place and many women and children were killed, as well as at least nine humanitarian workers from the Nigerian Red Cross and the International Committee for the Red Cross.
Spokesman of the Nigerian Defence Headquarters, Rabe Abubakar, said the bombing was an error and that it occurred after troops received intelligence of movement by Boko Haram insurgents in the area.
The Nigerian military remembers Rann bombing like the brute in a recurring nightmare. But medical aid staff, Samuel Suleiman, like Wangae, remembers the bombing like the animal trap that decapitated the huntsman in the fabled wild lands.
Suleiman was one of the many people that got wounded during the military airstrikes on Rann, on January 17. Thousands of displaced people had taken refuge in Rann and the MSF had just begun working there a few days before the attack.
“I was few metres away from where the first bombing took place. The bomb exploded very close to the military barracks. Instantly, I knew we were under attack but everybody thought it was Boko Haram. I took off immediately as fast as my feet could carry me. I never knew I was hurt until I got to a safe haven. A bomb shrapnel lodged in my arm, causing me to bleed profusely. I was lucky to get medical aid on time,” said Suleiman.
Meredith Wakanda, 26, is a Food Security Analyst with another UN aid agency in Borno. When she is not accompanying missions to deliver relief materials and other assistance to fringe communities caught up in the anti-terrorism war in Nigeria’s northeast, she lives in the State capital with her parents.
According to Wakama, it’s dangerous crisscrossing war ravaged communities in Borno. Due to the demands of her job, Wakanda, a native of Borno of the Kanuri tribe, constantly shuttles between the WFP office in the State capital and the several IDP settlements and war ravaged communities across the North East.
“You see things that bring tears to your eyes. I have seen a lot of anguish and I have experienced great misery by being witness to it all. But what keeps me going is the fact that by my work, I bring succour into the lives of many,” she said.
Living and working in a war zone
The life of an aid worker is a gallery of scars and perilous exploits. The absence of electricity, potable water, food, provisions, telephones and other relief materials can make the simplest tasks and routines cumbersome.
The average war zone assignment lasts from six to 12 months. This accords the international aid worker ample time to know the country of his assignment as well as neighbouring countries.
The Nation findings revealed that local and international aid workers are often forced to work and live in extreme circumstances. Many of them, field operatives in particular, live where they work. This, according to a Field Security Officer for the WFP, could be anywhere from camping outdoors in a food drop zone to a refugee registration area or food distribution centre.
‘Our work would be easier if the roads are good’
The hazards of international aid work ranges from the possibility of sudden death via targeted attacks, abduction to extreme living conditions and travel on bad roads. For instance, Margaret Haruna, a staff of UN food agency’s Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) unit, dreads visiting certain regions of Borno despite her passion for humanitarian work.
“Our work would be easier if the roads are good and there is dependable security stationed across the access routes. When we have to deliver food and other relief materials in extreme circumstances, we do an airdrop from a hovering aircraft because it is usually the safest bet. Sometimes, the aircraft lands in the middle of the conflict zone. From there, we disembark to offer food, nutritional supplements and other relief materials to the needy,” she said.
Every day unfurls with fresh challenges for the aid worker. For instance, while staff of the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) devote time and efforts to addressing the education needs of minors, field operatives of the World Food Programme (WFP), start by registering people in need of food assistance. The registration process may last for four days or more depending on the number of beneficiaries in need of . Staff of the agency also assist with helicopter food drops of cereal sacks, special food for kids and vegetable oil in regions where it is impossible to make the deliveries by road.
At the backdrop of the efforts, aid workers maintain utmost vigilance, instituting security measures that would aid early warning signals and evacuation process in the event of an attack by dreaded terrorist groups.
Bearing in mind that an attack could be carried out at any time, Field Security Officers of international aid groups adopt proactive measures. Before any mission, they communicate with local authorities, assess the security in the area, and equip themselves with thorough knowledge of the area so that in case of emergency evacuation, they can relocate their teams to safety.
The hardest part of the job
Sporadic attacks by Boko Haram continually slow the place of development work in the region as aid workers are often forced to flee humanitarian projects in the region’s hot zones for the safety of the capital cities. But even the capital cities offer minimal refuge to the humanitarian staff. Many are forced to adhere to strict safety rules to avoid targeted attacks by Boko Haram.
For instance, the United Nation’s multilateral agencies provide accommodation to staff in highly guarded hotels and official residencies. Aid workers also have to avoid night crawling and thus retire indoors early in the evening every day.
“Many of us do not venture out after 6.00pm. If there is no urgent relief work to be done anywhere, we retire indoors. It’s the safest bet,” said Adeola Adekunle, a UN Communications Associate from Lagos.
Adekunle revealed that when things seem lonely and bleak, thoughts of his wife and son get him going through the odds. “I console myself by calling my wife. I urge her to put my son on the phone so I can speak to him too. The possibility of seeing them soon keeps me hopeful and happy,” he revealed.
There is no fixed closure in humanitarian work. Aid workers across Nigeria’s northeast revealed that each unit does not rest until its members are safely tucked in bed in their highly cordoned residences. “We are in perpetual active mode morning through the night, week day through weekends because conflicts or problems arise without respect for routine or timelines,” disclosed Ahmadu Salkada, a Field Security Officer in Yobe State.
When missions are extended beyond specified timelines, the wellbeing of staff become threatened due to food and water shortages, especially in conflict zones where the basic amenities and conveniences are scarce. In such extreme situations, aid workers device ingenious strategies for survival.
The mayhem in retrospect
Borno State, officially acknowledged as the “State of Peace” is undoubtedly the worst hit by the insurgency. Prior to the emergence of the incumbent government, aid workers fled the State. Until their flight, Borno was home to several high profile domestic and international aid agencies and personnel.
It will be recalled that when Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) moved into Baga, a town nearly 200 kilometres northeast of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, the organisation then reported that it was treating 80 patients a day; half of them children.
But after five gunmen hijacked one of their vehicles along with medical supplies and other equipment, MSF abandoned the project.
The surge in terrorist attacks by Boko Haram worsened the humanitarian crisis in the region, which meant that more aid workers were needed to help mitigate the effect of the insurgency.
In 2014 alone, more than 500,000 persons are estimated to have been displaced from their homes due to terrorist attacks. In the first half of last year, civilian deaths are estimated at over 2,000. Since the insurgency started in 2009, more than 5,000 persons are believed to have been killed.
Before the situation deteriorated, the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) served as a regional hub for development programmes, conferences and training workshops. Such projects had to be abandoned as Boko Haram increased its conquests and stranglehold on Borno and neighbouring Yobe and Adamawa states.
Things got quite bad that in February 2013, two vaccinators were murdered in Borno by Boko Haram. In the same month, three North Korean doctors and health workers were murdered in Yobe State. Boko Haram went on to establish its stranglehold on 23 of Borno’s 27 local government areas. The situation has since improved as the Nigerian military has reclaimed Borno’s 23 local councils from Boko Haram’s stranglehold.
UNHAS to the rescue
In parts of north-east Nigeria, where the volatile security environment has disrupted overland transport routes, air travel is often the only practical solution for getting humanitarian assistance to people in need. Coupled with the challenges of extreme poverty, underdevelopment and climate change in the Lake Chad Region, years of violent conflict between the government and Boko Haram have thrust the country into one of the most acute humanitarian crises in the world. Today 26 million people are affected and 13.4 million in need of humanitarian assistance according to UN estimates.
The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), managed by the WFP, is the only provider of air services in this complex emergency. Using fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, UNHAS enables humanitarian organizations to reach thousands of people in hard-to-access and isolated areas, delivering life-saving food, vaccines, medicines and medical equipment.
The agency enables humanitarian organizations to reach people in remote, cut-off locations with in-kind and cash assistance.
In 2016 alone, UNHAS Nigeria transported 14,700 passengers and 53,000 kilograms of light cargo on behalf of 64 humanitarian organizations, including NGOs such as the International Rescue Committee, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Action Contre la Faim.
Action Contre la Faim Country Director in Nigeria, Yannick Pouchalan revealed how UNHAS has allowed his staff to reach deep field locations from their base in the capital, Abuja. This service makes short field trips possible, allowing aid workers to continually monitor and improve their operations.
Maie Sahoury, the only female UNHAS Aviation Officer in Nigeria also enthused that joining the WFP-UNHAS family was a life-changing experience for her, on both personal and professional levels.
“Sometimes we work for weeks non-stop, facing many challenges, yet the idea that doing your job will save someone’s life is a priceless reward that compensates for everything,” she said.
A deadly paralysis
At the backdrop of humanitarian efforts in Nigeria’s North East and other parts of the world, extreme risks and threats are paralysing the operations of humanitarian aid workers, thereby preventing them from helping more people in some of the biggest war zones, according to a recent UN-backed report.
“Conflict parties’ lack of respect for the fundamental tenets of international humanitarian law and the brutality and volatility of today’s armed conflicts make it extremely difficult and dangerous for these brave aid workers to deliver humanitarian assistance and protection in complex emergencies,” said UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien, whose Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) co-produced the report.
‘Presence and Proximity: To Stay and Deliver, Five Years On,’ produced by OCHA, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and Jindal School of International Affairs in India, is based on interviews with more than 2,000 international and national aid workers, and includes case studies on humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic (CAR), Syria and Yemen.
Danger pay
There is no gainsaying that humanitarian aid workers are exposed to intractable hardships in the course of their work. To compensate them for their efforts, they are entitled to certain mobility and hardship arrangements. The intent is to offer a comprehensive approach to compensation for service in the field and provide incentives for staff to accept assignments to the difficult and sometimes dangerous locations where staffing and effective programme delivery is often the most challenging.
The Danger Pay (DP), for instance, is a special allowance established for internationally and locally recruited staff who are required to work in locations where very dangerous conditions prevail. The Danger Pay is also given where United Nations staff or premises are at high risk of becoming collateral damage in a war or active armed conflict. The allowance is normally granted for periods of up to three consecutive months at a time. It is lifted when dangerous conditions are deemed to have abated.
But do the dangerous conditions ever abate?
