Some families at Sokoto’s Ramin Kura settlement share rooms with as many as 10 people. Others say they pool money to pay for medicine and childbirth.
Peter Obi raised concerns about conditions after visiting the settlement with Rabiu Kwankwaso on Sept. 29. He said more than 1,000 people were living there and urged authorities to improve shelter, toilets, health care and schooling. His population estimate has not been confirmed by a recent independent headcount.
“I have always insisted that as long as even one Nigerian lives in an IDP camp, we are all internally displaced,” Obi said.
For residents, the hardship is part of daily life. In an August report, Aisha Muhammad Ali said families contributed money when a woman needed to give birth and that basic medicines were not always available.
“We contribute money so the pregnant woman can deliver,” she said.
Aliyu Sarkin Fawa, a father of eight, said he fled violence in Zamfara state and arrived at Ramin Kura in 2025. He told the report that he struggled to afford treatment for a leg injury. Both residents spoke before Obi’s visit.
Health care arrangements at the settlement remain unclear. Obi said there was no primary health center there. An earlier report described residents seeking care at a nearby center, while also recording complaints about medicine costs and irregular supplies.
Sokoto authorities had not publicly responded to Obi’s Sept. 29 appeal in the reports reviewed. In an August report, however, Maryam Suleiman, the governor’s special adviser on displaced people and resident communities, said residents were not being denied access to primary health care and that the government was working to provide support. Her comments came before Obi’s visit and did not address his concerns about shelter, toilets or schooling. Residents interviewed in the same report said medicine costs and availability remained problems.
Ramin Kura is an informal settlement for displaced people in Sokoto North, rather than an officially recognized camp, according to a 2025 report. An independent food security assessment estimated that 800 to 1,000 people lived there in 2023. That older estimate offers context but cannot confirm the current population Obi cited.
Aid has reached residents. In January 2026, the Asattahir International Foundation said it provided meals to 250 people at Ramin Kura, including children and nursing mothers, and assessed household needs. The Nigerian Red Cross Society also said the International Committee of the Red Cross, with its support, supplied child protection kits to 100 households and sleeping mats to 369 households. These efforts were separate from Obi’s visit.
The Sokoto governor’s office for humanitarian affairs visited Ramin Kura and another settlement in May, according to the Asattahir foundation. The account described a study visit but gave no specific commitment or timetable for new facilities.
Ramin Kura reflects a wider displacement crisis in northwestern Nigeria, where attacks and kidnappings have forced families from their homes, farms and livelihoods. In 2020, the United Nations refugee agency reported that people fleeing violence in Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina states had crossed into neighboring Niger.
For people living at Ramin Kura, the questions are immediate: Can they get reliable medical care? Can their children attend school? Will families have safer, less crowded shelter? Obi’s visit has renewed attention to those needs, but whether authorities will address them remains unclear.
