Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has directed the immediate shutdown of the internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Bama Local Government Area, attributing the decision to growing security concerns and increased criminal activities within the facility.
The governor made the announcement on Thursday during a visit to the Government Secondary School IDP camp in Gwoza Local Government Area after assessing conditions at the site.
According to Zulum, the decision followed the screening of displaced persons in Bama, which revealed serious security concerns.
Addressing camp residents, the governor said, “We visited Bama yesterday and supervised the screening of IDPs, and by 12 noon (Thursday), the Bama IDP camp should be closed.
“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 explained that the closure is part of the government’s efforts to encourage displaced persons to return to their communities following the improved security situation in many areas previously under the control of Boko Haram insurgents.
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Zulum expressed concern over the increasing level of criminal activities in IDP camps, saying the facilities had become centres for various social vices.
“In our camps now, there is ongoing criminality; we have identified all of them, and they will be resettled based on their localities and to their community heads. Otherwise, Boko Haram/ISWAP are gradually infiltrating the camps,” he said.
The governor also lamented what he described as a growing trend of residents abandoning their homes and returning to displacement camps solely to benefit from relief materials distributed by non-governmental organisations.
He disclosed that the government’s profiling exercise uncovered a large number of fake IDPs, stressing that maintaining the camps under such conditions was no longer sustainable.
Zulum further confirmed that the Gwoza IDP camp would be the next to shut down after the closure of the Bama facility.
“Many of those who 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,” he said.