“Sometimes it feels like the world wasn’t made for people like me,” Shiminenge said, her voice steady despite the weight of the words. In Gbajimba, northern Nigeria, the 32-year-old navigates daily life in a camp for displaced people that offers little space, safety or accessibility for people living with disabilities.
Around her, tents stretch over dry, uneven ground. The trails become muddy and difficult when it rains. Toilets and water points sit further than she can reach without help. But every morning she pushes through the same obstacles, determined not to disappear into a place that was never designed for her.
Shiminenge is one of more than 480,000 people displaced by intercommunal conflict in Benue State.
She fled her village in Guma in 2018 and has since been living in an IDP camp in Gbajimba. Like many others, she left with little more than the hope of finding safety.
But her journey began long before the displacement.
Shiminenge (right) has received support from IOM and other humanitarian agencies.
At just nine months old, her parents were told she would never be able to follow a life-changing diagnosis. Growing up with a mobility disability meant constant adjustments and an early understanding of what it means to move through the world without accessible support.
Today, life in the camp has added another layer of daily challenge: poor shelter conditions, no accessible sanitation, and a landscape that is nearly impossible to navigate.
Speaking ahead of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, marked annually on December 3, she said: “In the camp, every step outside my tent was a struggle.” It’s not just the physical obstacles; it is the feeling of being invisible, of being forgotten in a place where survival is already so hard.”
Barriers to services and dignity
The feeling of invisibility that Shiminenge describes is shared by many people with disabilities in displacement environments. They are often among the most marginalized within internally displaced populations and face unique barriers to shelter, health care, sanitation and essential services.
In these environments, inaccessible infrastructure and limited targeted support can increase the risk of neglect, exclusion and abuse. As these barriers rise, they make displacement even more difficult and put the rights and dignity of disabled people at greater risk.
Despite these limitations, Shiminenge refused to give up. Resourceful and determined, she began selling mosquito repellent in the camp, earning a small income while also helping to protect other camp residents from malaria.
Her resilience quickly grew into advocacy. She helped form a disability association in Gbajimba that brought together 18 other people living with disabilities to push for mobility aids, fair access to resources and more inclusive facilities.
Upgrading the camp
In August 2024, a team with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) visited the camp to assess the living conditions of displaced persons. After years of feeling unseen in a crowded place, the visit felt different. “For the first time here, I felt like someone was listening,” she said.
In response to the association’s requests, IOM, with the support of the Benue State Emergency Management Agency, led a total redesign of the camp to ensure that the specific needs of people living with disabilities were treated with dignity and respect.
As part of this redesign, nearly 4,000 upgraded emergency shelters were built in Gbajimba, each built to withstand the region’s seasonal downpours and offer safer living conditions for displaced families.
The redesign also introduced a dedicated section for people living with disabilities, offering disabled toilets, accessible water points and kitchens designed for ease of use.
Throughout the area, gently sloping ramps and shared social spaces were added so that residents can move independently and participate more fully in daily camp life.
“These changes mean more than convenience; they give us a sense of dignity and belonging,” she said.
