Maiduguri, Nigeria – More and more people are returning home - and are in need of assistance - across Nigeria’s northeast, according to IOM’s 12th Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) report, released today. The report, which was prepared over the last month, shows the number of returnees since Aug. 2015 is up from 910,955 (Aug. 2016) to 958,549. The movements of internally displaced people (IDPs), including back to their home areas, are largely associated with unmet needs, the search for humanitarian aid and the improving security in some parts of the region.

This DTM covers 161 sites (camps and camp-like settings) around the four northeastern states, Adamawa, Borno, Taraba, and Yobe, with these types of settlements. Bauchi and Gombe states do not yet have formal or informal camps. The number of sites assessed in this DTM is greater than in any previous displacement tracking report from IOM Nigeria; the last DTM covered 155. Site assessments for this report were conducted between Sept. 21 and Oct. 26.

Adamawa, Yobe, and Borno are seeing the most IDPs returning to their homes in those three states. Returnees come from within Nigeria and from neighbouring countries, like Cameroon and Chad. Food is the greatest unmet need for nearly half of all people surveyed. Blankets, and other ‘non-food items,’ are second in demand. Others ask for shelter.

Those three states also have the most IDPs with 93% of the total number: 1,822,541 individuals (321,514 families). That number is down by 3.3% (61,173 individuals) from the last DTM, which was published in August. The decrease in IDPs is related to the increase in returnees. It is also related to the reduction in states covered in this DTM, from 13 previously to six. This, however, allowed the DTM to focus on the states most affected by the conflict. Maiduguri Metropolitan Council local government area in Borno State hosts the most IDPs with 528,765. That has been consistent across previous DTM reports. Nearly all (97%) of the IDPs surveyed say they are displaced because of the violence that escalated across the northeast in 2014. Just over half (53.6%) of IDPs are female; 55% are under 18-years-old and half of them are younger than five.

For information on food supplies, healthcare access, and camp conditions, please read the full report: http://eepurl.com/cmAdtn | The DTM programme is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Office (ECHO), and Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Media Contacts: Henry Kwenin, DTM Programme Coordinator, IOM Nigeria, Mobile: +234 (0) 903 885 2524 | Email: hkwenin@iom.int or Julia Burpee, Project Information Officer, IOM Nigeria, Mobile: +234 (0) 907 373 1170 | Email: jburpee@iom.int