BOKO HARAM: NEW DIMENSIONS AS THE REFUGUEE CRISIS WORSENS

And so, the dream to create the model caliphate, the jewel of the night sky and envy of the desert tribes is disappearing faster than a mirage on a sun-scorched tarmac as Boko Haram’s forces are being routed left, right and centre!

Day after day, scores of terrorists are surrendering while an even substantial number are being sent to their timely death and eternal sojourn in the warm embrace of their 72 virgins!

On the international scene, Nigeria is being acknowledged for its concerted and aggressive campaign to eradicate the disease called Boko Haram from its body as being witnessed in the series of success stories emanating from the North East of Nigeria.

Finally, the dust seems to be settling as Nigeria is on the verge of claiming a truly impressive victory over the die-hard terrorists with Boko Haram retreating deeper and deeper into the thickets of Sambisa, not knowing their fate as the final onslaught draws nearer.

Inspite of this winning streak for Nigeria, a new dimension is however emerging in the armed conflict that has plagued Nigeria for more than 7 years.

The violent conflict may have died down, but in its place, a refugee crisis is brewing  as millions of people, initially displaced by the rampaging terrorists and holed up in border areas and other locations across Nigeria, now seek to return home.

 Thousands of Nigerian refugees in neighboring countries such as Niger have been struggling for resources since fleeing attacks by the Boko Haram group. Those within the Nigerian borders have begun returning to their communities as they are struggling to survive in their new abodes.

The Nigerian army has surely taken back the rebel group's last remaining strongholds in the northeastern Borno State and, while the United Nations reports that people have started returning to their devastated towns and villages, thousands remain in neighbouring countries, including Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

The efficacy of the Nigerian military’s onslaught against Boko Haram has made the group less feared than in previous years. What now faces the residentsis how to get on with their lives. A lot of people at a UN-run camp in Niger's Diffa reoortedly told journalists from told Al Jazeera recently that they no longer feared Boko Haram, but that they were struggling to get on with their lives because of a lack of resources.

Boko Haram violence in northeast Nigeria has, since it began in 2009 mutated into a vast regional crisis confronting Nigeria and its three Lake Chad Basin neighbours, Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Insecurity has driven more than 187,000 Nigerians across the border, but incursions by Boko Haram into the surrounding countries have generated growing numbers of internally displaced people too, according to UN data. 

Boko Haram violence in northeast Nigeria has, since it began in 2009, mutated into a vast regional crisis confronting Nigeria and its three Lake Chad Basin neighbours, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

Insecurity has driven more than 187,000 Nigerians across the border, but incursions by Boko Haram into the surrounding countries have generated growing numbers of internally displaced people too, according to UN data.

There are 157,000 internally displaced people in Cameroon, 74,800 in Chad and more than 127,000 in Niger.

As of the most recent available data, there are 2,066,783 displaced people in Nigeria, the UN has said.

More than 15,000 people have been killed and 2.3 million forced from their homes since the conflict began.

The UN children's agency UNICEF said in July that nearly half a million children were at risk of "severe acute malnutrition" in the area around Lake Chad.

Such grand-scale refugee crisis is therefore the next chapter that Nigeria must face, and quickly enough too.