Many young Nigerians, who fled persistent and deadly attacks by the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS), more commonly referred to as Boko Haram, have found relative peace and safety and a way to make ends meet in Maroua in northern Cameroon.
Mostly from the Nigerian town of Banki, which is less than 3km from the Cameroon border, many of the young people fled when the JAS captured the town in 2014. The small town’s position on the border made it a strategic location as the extremists attempted to secure territory beyond northeast Nigeria.
The Nigerian military, helped by the Cameroonian army, took back control of Banki in September 2015.
But, by that time, the Nigerians in Maroua had settled and found ways to make money.
Many have stalls in the old forest market where they sell food, wood, essential items and crafted goods.
Ibrahim Salika sells self-adhesive pictures and posters, as well as signs, including memes and common expressions which people can put on the walls of their houses.
He has photos of just about every famous person in the world.
His stall is covered with signs saying “No Smoking”, “Smoking Kills”, and posters saying “God’s pencil has no eraser”, “Love the one who loves you” and “The man proposes, God disposes”.
He also sells the small flags of several countries, including that of Cameroon.
Mohamed Boukar, another JAS survivor, says he encountered many difficulties and endured frequent attacks before crossing the border. He does not even know where his parents are.
When he first arrived, he stayed in the Minawao refugee camp, which hosts nearly 70,000 refugees from Nigeria. But, he says, the living conditions did not appeal to him. He says he did not get enough food and decided to move into Maroua, where he is happier and is making enough money to live.
Some refugees in the Minawao refugee camp, a shelter that provides food and nutrition with aid from the United Nations World Food Programme and its partners, have been trained to distribute food rations to other residents of the camp.
Others work in the camp’s nursery and are helping to build a “Great Green Wall” to combat desertification.
One young girl told a representative of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “The trees bring us a lot. First, they provide the shade necessary to grow food. Then, the dead leaves and branches can be turned into a fertiliser for cultivating. And finally, the forest attracts and retains water. Rainfall has even increased.”
Zara Maina, a field assistant with the UNHCR, said: “It is hard to describe the depth of the impact the disappearance of the forest has had on populations. The price of wood has risen considerably, causing conflicts with host communities. Women were forced to walk far into the bush to fetch wood, exposing themselves to potential attacks. Animals found it increasingly difficult to feed themselves. It was crucial to find a solution.”
Refugees have received training on how to give seedlings the best chance of survival in the harsh environment.
Maroua is an important marketing centre. It lies at the intersection of roads from Mokolo (northwest), Bogo (northeast) and Garoua (southwest). The town’s agricultural exports are shipped by road to Garoua and then by boat on the Benue River to Nigeria.
The town is a handicraft centre, of which many of the Nigerian refugees are a part, making and selling embroidery, leatherwork and metalwork, jewellery and pottery.
Most of the jobs done by the refugees allow them to be free from basic needs. They can earn anything from from 2,000 to 4,500 CFAF, allowing them to be at ease in Maroua, where they manage to pay rent and feed themselves.
Some say they would like to return to Nigeria one day but many others are happy to stay put.
