Borno set to close largest IDP camp outside Maiduguri, says Gwoza camp next

By Fatima Haruna (9News Nigeria Maiduguri)

GWOZA, Borno State – Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has ordered the immediate closure of the Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, camp in Bama, the largest displacement facility outside Maiduguri.

He also announced that the Gwoza camp will be shut down within weeks.

Zulum made the announcement on Thursday in Gwoza following an assessment visit to the Government Secondary School IDP camp.

“We visited Bama yesterday and supervised the screening of IDPs, and by 12 noon, Bama IDP camp should be closed,” Zulum said.

“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.”

The Governor attributed the planned returns to improved security in areas previously held by Boko Haram insurgents.

He noted that in the last seven years, the state government has resettled several communities in Bama Local Government Area.

These include Darajamal, Nguro Soye, Goniri, Banki, Abbaram, Ngoshe, Kirawa, Warabe, and other locations across the state.

However, Zulum expressed concern over rising criminality inside the camps.

He said the facilities have become hotspots for social vices and warned of insurgent infiltration.

“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,” he said.

“Otherwise, Boko Haram/ISWAP are gradually infiltrating the camps.”

The Governor also raised alarm over an influx of “fake IDPs”.

He said many residents are leaving their homes to live in camps in order to collect relief materials from NGOs.

“Many of those that are residents living in their homes are returning to the camps to receive handouts from non-governmental organisations,” Zulum stated.

“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.”

He stressed that the government cannot sustain the camps under such circumstances.

Zulum confirmed that the Gwoza camp will be closed in the next phase.

He added that several other camps across the state will be shut before the end of his tenure.