GOVERNOR Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State has ordered the immediate closure of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Bama, the largest displacement facility outside the state capital, Maiduguri, while also indicating that the Gwoza camp would be shut down in the coming weeks.
News Point Nigeria reports that the governor made the announcement on Thursday in Gwoza shortly after conducting an assessment visit to the Government Secondary School IDP camp, where he reiterated the state government’s commitment to ending prolonged displacement and ensuring sustainable resettlement of affected residents.
“We visited Bama yesterday and supervised the screening of IDPs, and by 12 noon, Bama IDP camp should be closed,” Zulum stated.
“Today we are here in Gwoza, we have profiled all of them, and Insha Allah, in the next two or three weeks this camp will also be closed,” he added.
According to the governor, the ongoing return and resettlement programme has been made possible by the relative peace now prevailing in many communities that were previously occupied by Boko Haram insurgents.
Over the past seven years, the Borno State Government has successfully resettled several communities in Bama Local Government Area, including Darajamal, Nguro Soye, Goniri, Banki, Abbaram, Ngoshe, Kirawa, Warabe and other locations across the state.
However, Zulum expressed deep concern over what he described as rising criminality within IDP camps, warning that the facilities were increasingly becoming centres of social vices and insecurity.
“In our camps now, there is an ongoing criminality; we have identified all of them and they’ll be resettled based on their localities and to their community heads. Otherwise, Boko Haram/ISWAP are gradually infiltrating the camps,” the governor said.
He also raised the alarm over what he described as a disturbing trend of people leaving their homes and returning to IDP camps in order to access relief materials distributed by non-governmental organisations.
The governor disclosed that a significant number of fake IDPs had been uncovered during the recent screening exercise, stressing that the state government could no longer sustain the continued maintenance of camps under such circumstances.
Zulum further hinted that the Gwoza IDP camp would be the next facility to be shut as part of the state’s broader resettlement agenda.
Several other camps located in different parts of Borno State would also be closed before the end of his administration, he noted.
“Many of those that are residents living in their homes are returning to the camps to receive handouts from non-governmental organisations. We will ensure the returns are sustainable.
“One year ago, this was almost a ghost camp with not more than about 400 households. It is surprising that about 3,000 households are back in the camp, and most of them are residents living within the town,” the governor said.
The latest move underscores the Borno State Government’s determination to accelerate the resettlement of displaced persons, consolidate gains recorded in the fight against insurgency and ensure that humanitarian support reaches only genuine beneficiaries.