MAIDUGURI FLOOD: How A Man Divorced Wife For Disguising As Flood Victim In IDP Camp

A man has divorced his wife publicity at a flood victims camp in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.

The incident happened at an unofficial temporary camp, providing shelter to internally displaced persons at Fori, a community situated along the river that flooded Maiduguri.

The camp is hosting over 1,000 people from Fori, Aji-Alari, Galtimari and Gwange communities.

According to eye witnesses, the woman is among many people who disguise themselves among the victims of flood in camps to access interventions.

Narrating the incident, one of the camp managers who didn’t authorize his name to be mentioned said that ‘the man stormed into the camp yesterday in his car, Mercedes C-class, along with his teenage son.

‘He came out of the car furiously and handed his son a paper, assumed to be a divorce paper and asked him to take it to his mother saying he has divorced her,” he said.

Describing the incident as shocking, another eye witness narrated that the woman started shouting and crying upon receiving the letter.

While expressing his anger on his wife, the husband of the divorcee complained that he has food, stocked in his store in their house, enough to feed his family for more than three months, adding that ‘instead of cooking food an bringing to thess flood victims, she has joined them, what is she looking for here,’ he shouted in anger.

People familiar with the man said that he is a businessman who engaged in both domestic and international trade.

In an interview with Falmata Abba, a resident of Maiduguri, she noted that the practice of people disguising themselves as IDPs to get food and non-food donations is very common in the city.

‘I was at a camp looking for someone few days ago, and when I went in, someone offered me a room and asked if I have children to occupy it in other to receive government intervention,’ she said, while narrating her experience.

At Fori camp however, they are yet to receive the Borno State government N10,000 cash donation to flood victims and other intervention programs.

The camp is managed by youth volunteer group in the community who mobilizes food from donors in the community to feed the flood victims.

According to them, while the have secured the data of all genuine flood victims in the camp, they have not received any support or intervention from government, NGOs and other formal bodies.

However, they noted that they have received a medical team from University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital on Monday who are taking care of health concerns in the camp.