Feature: Terror attacks and refugees, Nigeria's scars waiting to be cured

The 28-year-old Auwa Bulama fled her home with her four-month old baby boy strapped on her back and another three-year old son.

They trekked some hours through the lonely night with nearly 100 others from the theater of insurgency in the Nigerian northeast border town of Marte to Bosso, a small town in the neighboring Niger.

A night raid on the border community by Boko Haram mid-January forced many residents to flee to Niger, considered the nearest place of refuge by the local people as they scurried for cover, away from the gunmen's hot bullets.

"My husband was killed by Boko Haram who also abducted our 15- year old son. I was left with my two sons and we fled together to Bosso that (January) night with about 100 people," teary-eyed Bulama told Xinhua at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Maiduguri, capital of Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno and epicenter of Boko Haram's violence.

More than 5,000 Nigerians fled to neighboring African nations of Niger and Cameroun to take refuge since late 2014 as Boko Haram seized their communities through violent attacks. Fotokol Town, a Camerounian community, is said to be a camp for more Nigerian refugees.

As the global community commemorated the resilience, courage and strength of millions of refugees across the globe on June 20, marked as World Refugee Day, Nigerians poured out their bitterness over the increasing number of internally displaced persons as a result of attacks by Boko Haram, a terror group which has proved to be a hard nut to crack in the African most populous country since 2009.

Sanni Sidi, director general of Nigeria's National Emergency Agency (NEMA), told Xinhua that more than 1.5 million people have been displaced from their homes and communities as Boko Haram attacks continued.

According to the official, at least 900,000 people have been camped at designated internally displaced persons' camps in Maiduguri. "We have well over 10,000 other displaced persons living families and relations," he added.

The African continent has more than 3 million refugees due to various political crises, wars and insurrections in South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, Nigeria and Central African Republic (CAR), said Tina Ghelli, a senior regional officer at the External Relations Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees' (UNHCR).

For the refugees, living outside their comfort zones has made life hellish for them.

A Nigerian refugee, Ade Adejuwon, said life has been brutish for him since November 2014 when he fled Gamboru/Ngala where he was residing to Fotokol. "I am still taking refuge there because all roads from Nigeria have been shut down by the government," he told Xinhua via telephone.

Monday Adeijeh, a local human rights lawyer based in the Nigerian capital Abuja, said, however, corruption among officials of the agencies responsible for caring for refugees and IDPs was hampering delivery of adequate relief materials.

He, therefore, called on Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to pursue his anti-corruption agenda with zeal. "Refugees and IDPs deserve special attention since they were not responsible for their condition but more wearisome is the increasing number," he said.

Head of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) Grema Terab said if the nation fails to tackle the worsening insurgency in the northeast, it may be heading for a bigger humanitarian crisis.

"More civilians are being displaced on daily basis because of this mindless killing by Boko Haram. Our state can no longer cope with the cost of feeding and managing the displaced persons," he said. Endi