Behind the proud smile and polished robe of newly minted barrister Saminu Wakili lies a story of immense hardship, resilience, and hope. Though he stood tall at the call-to-bar ceremony in Abuja, his journey to that moment began in fear and flight — as a child fleeing Boko Haram’s deadly grip on his hometown of Gwoza, Borno State.
In his early years, Wakili’s life was uprooted by the violent Islamist insurgency that ravaged the North-East. His family home was destroyed, and he, alongside his parents, was forced to escape across the border into Cameroon. They joined hundreds of thousands of displaced persons who lost everything — homes, livelihoods, and education — to a crisis that, according to the EU Agency for Asylum, has claimed over 30,000 lives and displaced more than two million people since 2009.
A Childhood Interrupted
“I was a school dropout,” Wakili said, recalling life in exile. “We had nothing — we moved from place to place just trying to survive.” He fled Gwoza in 2013, and two years later, in January 2015, a kind stranger helped him return to Nigeria, leaving his parents behind in Cameroon. “My parents didn’t want me to go. They believed I’d be killed. But I had to try.”
Wakili arrived at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Benin City, where his life took a new turn. There, he resumed his education and slowly began rebuilding his future. “Our hope back then was just to find peace, somewhere we wouldn’t hear gunshots.”
Rising Through the Rubble
With support from the camp’s coordinator, Pastor Solomon Folorunsho of the International Christian Centre for Mission, Wakili pressed forward. He studied law at Edo State University, Iyamho, where he graduated as the best in his class with a CGPA of 4.43.
In 2024, he completed his studies at the Enugu campus of the Nigerian Law School. Now, more than a decade after losing everything, Wakili has been called to the Nigerian Bar as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court.
“I haven’t seen my parents since I left them in Cameroon over ten years ago,” he shared. “But today, I’m a lawyer. I’m proud — and grateful.”
A Beacon of Hope for Others
Wakili is not alone in his achievement. Alongside him, four other IDPs — David Ayuba, Nathan Ibrahim, Rifkatu Ali, and Peter Mazhekwatte Isaac — were also called to the Bar. All five were sheltered and mentored by Folorunsho’s mission.
“We taught them the meaning of determination,” Folorunsho said. “At first, they couldn’t speak English. But they never gave up.”
Despite facing funding shortages, misinformation, and public criticism, the centre’s work has produced powerful results. In addition to the five new lawyers, five IDPs graduated as medical doctors earlier this year, and over 400 displaced youths are currently enrolled in universities across Nigeria.
“We were criticised and threatened,” Folorunsho recalled, “but we said our response would be in the lives we transform. When they become doctors and lawyers, the world will know.”
The Road Ahead
Wakili’s journey from refugee to legal professional is a powerful testament to what determination, faith, and opportunity can achieve — even in the face of unimaginable adversity.
“This is what the IDP camp has done for us,” he said. “And this is what people can achieve when they’re simply given a chance.”