Many Nigerians have fled the armed group several times and struggle to deal with the physical and emotional trauma.

Women in Gombyo camp in Borno state line up to receive aid from local and international NGOs [Fragkiska Megaloudi/Al Jazeera] Maiduguri, Nigeria -
Kabiru, a tall man in his late 20s, is exhausted. With a group of men,
he has to prepare food for about 2,000 displaced Nigerians living in
Gombyo camp. Kabiru, who goes only by one name, pours water in a large pot of rice. His task is to ensure there's enough firewood and water to keep the rice boiling. It's hard work, especially under the searing sun in northeastern Nigeria. More than two million people have been displaced in
the region since 2009, when the armed Boko Haram group launched
military operations to overthrow the government and create an Islamic
state in the northeast. Eighty percent of the displaced come from Borno
state - the epicentre of the conflict. Many have sought refuge in
Maiduguri, the state capital, living with friends and relatives, or
renting overcrowded houses.Others have fled to neighbouring Chad, Niger or Cameroon. RELATED: My Nigeria
The influx of displaced people has overstretched the already limited
housing capacity of host communities. Only eight percent live in camps
for internally displaced people.A cholera outbreak that struck in early September
has killed 20 people so far and sickened 1,500 others in Gombyo camp
outside Maiduguri. The spread of disease is exacerbated by
poor sanitary conditions, as there are only 82 latrines for 8,000 people
who live there.

More than two million people are displaced in Borno state - and about half are children [Fragkiska Megaloudi/Al Jazeera]

In addition to the harsh difficult physical conditions, displaced Nigerians must also deal with emotional suffering. Many were forced to flee unspeakable violence and persecution more than once. According to humanitarian agencies and government data, 64 percent of those escaping Boko Haram fighters have been displaced several times. "The impact of insecurity on families forced to
flee attacks on civilians and military offensives is immense,"
said Kasper Engborg, head of the United Nations Office for Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Nigeria. "Beyond the economic impact and growing
vulnerability of families who risk being separated with each new
displacement, the coping capacity of both displaced people and the host
communities across northeast Nigeria is being exhausted at an alarming
rate," said Engborg. 'We lost everything' Kabiru used to be a farmer, but after seeing Boko
Haram fighters kill his brother in January, he fled for his life to
neighbouring Chad, where he stayed for three months doing menial jobs to
survive. When fighting came to Chad, Kabiru fled to Niger where again
he started anew. In May, following a Boko Haram attack on an islet
in Lake Chad, Niger authorities deported 4,000 Nigerians, including
Kabiru who was brought to Gombyo camp.

Kabiru's case is not unique. Aliyu Muhamad, 35, was fishing when Boko Haram
attacked his town of Kukalor, killing his elderly father and two
brothers. He managed to reunite with his wife and three children and
they fled to Chad, where he established a small fishing business. But
his ordeal was far from finished. "They [Boko Haram] attacked us early in the
morning. I was getting ready to go to my business when they came. I took
my family and ran away. For the second time we lost everything; we left
only with the clothes we had on." After fleeing from Chad, Aliyu spent three months
in Niger, but he was deported back to Nigeria following an escalation
of Boko Haram attacks in the region. He was brought to Gombyo camp where
he is separated from his wife and children. Camp policy forbids men and women from living
under the same roof, even if they are married. This adds to the
emotional distress of the displaced. RELATED: Nigeria's future: Failed state or African superpower? "Houses are given randomly to the people and -
mainly for security reasons but also for the protection of the unmarried
women - we keep the men separated from the women," explained Sadiq
Bashara, a camp official from the Borno State Emergency Management
Agency. Umar Sani, one of Gombyo camp's managers, said there are plans to allow families to live together, but security remains the top priority. "We still need to investigate many of the recent
arrivals in the camp, as we suspect that Boko Haram informers might
infiltrate the camp. We located five suspects among the IDPs [internally
displaced people] just a week ago," Sani said.

For security reasons men are separated from women in the government-run camps in Borno [Fragkiska Megaloudi/Al Jazeera]

On the edge of Gombyo camp, a group of more than 50 women gathered outside their concrete house. They had all been kidnapped
by Boko Haram, but managed to escape. They look wary and tired and seem
to be distant from the other women in the camp.
Their children, some visibly malnourished, stare and greet visitors, but nobody comes closer. RELATED: Girls who escaped Boko Haram refuse to be victims Hajia Binta, 38 years old, nurses her newborn baby while
attending to her older daughter. She is from a village near Konduga, a
town 35 kilometres from Maiduguri. When Boko Haram attacked their
community, most people fled. But the fighters set fire to buildings and
in the ensuing panic, some women were trapped. "We did not know where to run. They surrounded the village and
when the fire broke I just ran back," said Binta in a soft voice. "They
circled us and ordered us to follow them."Boko Haram fighters kept the women imprisoned in the community school. "The food was never enough and some days we had nothing to
eat. We were begging them to give us more food. Every time they were
coming, I could feel my knees trembling from fear," said Aisha Mohamed, a
38-year-old mother of three. The women spent five months there until the insurgents brought
them to another location in the Sambisa forest. They had to farm and
cook and also fetch water from the community wells at night. Fear,
despair and submission kept them from trying to escape. Eventually, a military raid targeted the Boko
Haram hideout where the women were held and the fighters fled, leaving
the women behind. The Nigerian army brought them to Gombyo camp in August. Binta was pregnant when she arrived at Gombyo, and gave birth to a baby daughter in early October.

Hajia Binta was held by Boko Haram for several
months before being rescued by the Nigerian military [Fragkiska
Megaloudi/Al Jazeera]

Boko Haram has been known to sexually abuse women in captivity. But the stigma against being a rape victim is strong here, and none of the women at Gombyo camp said they had been physically or sexually assaulted.In collaboration with local and foreign agencies, the Nigerian
government is providing the freed women and girls with counselling and
medical care to help with their children - or their pregnancies."People are deeply traumatised of what they have gone through
in the hands of Boko Haram," said Musa Baba, a programme analyst in
Borno for the United Nations Population Fund, which provides psychosocial support and mental health counselling to displaced people in the camps. "If you talk to the women they will tell you they have heard
about sexual violence. But if you ask them to whom that has happened
they will not talk," explained Baba. Because of the stigma, Baba added: "People prefer to settle
their cases individually and let the survivors to bear their burden.
This is what we are working on to change." Follow Fragkiska Megaloudi on Twitter: @Fran221175

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About the Organization
Lifeline Somalia initiative is an organization composed of young leaders of Somali origin, third and fourth generation born and living in diasporas, and those who migrated and settled in the west and Somali intellectuals men and women.. LSI is located in Eastland's part of Nairobi.
Who decided to come up with unique peace forum to open new chapter in the history of Somalia free from tribalism and break all tribal barriers.
LSI was started to meet the social needs of the young people living in the diasporas and those who are living in areas wholly affected by civil war and both physical and natural causes to negative effects on human lives.
Lifeline Somalia initiative acts as a channel through which the governments and other organizations (local and international) can reach the communities for development and participation in Nation building as well as conducting Awareness concerning alarming issues like HIV/AIDS pandemic, violence, Child abuse and labor, Human rights, Terrorism and Millennium Development goals.