Government intensifies effort to house internally displaced persons

The government of the northeastern Borno state has intensified efforts in catering to the internally displaced persons across the state. On Saturday, 21 camps were set up for internally displaced persons (IDPs) across the state.

One of the camps was dedicated to refugees recently brought back from the Republic of Niger.

According to the chairman of the Borno state Emergency Management Agency, Grema Terab, around 2,400 Nigerians have been repatriated from Niger so far. He told reporters that the camp also housed 6,000 people recently repatriated from Ndjamena, Chad.

Terab said his agency expected more people to return from Niger, noting that they would be given housing in one of 400 housing estates along Gubio Road.

“Some of them, though Nigerians, were born in Niger and have never been to Nigeria,” Terab said.

Terab expressed the need to keep them in a camp for now in order to console them and treat those who are traumatized with the intention of allowing them to mix with other Nigerians in not too distant a time.

Last week, Terab’s agency said that up to 6,000 Nigerian nationals returned from Niger – following attacks by the Boko Haram group on islands where the refugees were being housed – and Ndjamena’s planned military onslaught on the fighters.

The Nigerian nationals, according to the relief agency, insisted not to stay at a new camp established for the refugees by the Nigerian government.