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Tag: IDP camp

  • Fire destroys over 100 thatched houses in Borno IDP camp

    Fire destroys over 100 thatched houses in Borno IDP camp

    A fire outbreak has destroyed more than 100 thatched houses at the Water Board IDP Camp in Monguno, Borno, the police command says.

    ASP Nahun Daso, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, disclosed this on Saturday in Maiduguri.

    According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Daso said that the incident occurred on Friday at about 4:30 p.m. and was reported by Bukar Mbati, Camp Chairman of the IDP camp, at Monguno Police Station.

    “The fire engulfed over 100 thatched houses, destroying foodstuff and other household items in the raging inferno,” he said.

    Read Also: Christmas Eve bombing leaves 5 dead, 35 injured in Borno

    He added that the state fire service, police and other security agencies stationed at the camp, successfully brought the fire under control.

    “Supol Monguno led a patrol team to the scene to conduct an on-the-spot assessment and photographs of the incident were taken.

    “Thankfully, no life was lost, and no injury was recorded. The value of properties destroyed is yet to be ascertained,” Daso said.

    He added that investigation was ongoing to ascertain the cause of the fire.

  • Katsina flood: ‘50% of IDPs have left camp’

    More that 50% of the internally displaced persons, IDP, of the recent flood disaster which hit Jibia town in Katsina state have left the Central Primary School camp Jibia where they were temporarily quartered in the aftermath of the disaster which occurred Sunday July 17

    The Executive Secretary of Katsina State Emergency management Agency, SEMA, Dr Aminu Waziri told newsmen on Monday in his office while giving an update on the incident that about 60% of the victims have received relief materials including cash supports. He said that a joint committee involving personnel of the local government, state government, SEMA and NEMA were supervising the distribution of relief materials.

    He said 466 houses have been verified as lost in the disaster while about 5o % of the IDPs have left either to joined their relations, seek refuge or rent apartments in areas they considered more comfortable with the cash refunds they have collected from us’’

    ‘’we also solicited and received medical supports, mobile medical laboratory, and sanitary facilities. We have received donations including cash and food stuffs from Philanthropists’’.

    Read Also: Polio Immunization: Kano takes campaign to IDPs camp

    ‘’The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND, Dr Abdullahi Bichi Bappa was in Jibia on Monday and donated 100 bags of rice,100 bags of spaghetti and 23 bags of millet’’.

    ‘’I just received a call that the catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah is on his way to Jibia to donate relief item to the IDPs and I hope to be there to receive him’’

    The SEMA boss further provided a breakdown of the total number of displaced persons to include 2604 persons made up of 65 adult males, 559 adult females, 1804 male children, and 908 female children

    He said the agency had to carry out a head count of the victims to specifically categorize them according to their special needs, nutrition, diets and education

    He said that so far N5m have been received as cash donations outside other relief materials

  • Lalong’s convoy attacked at IDP camp

    The convoy of Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong was yesterday attacked by displaced persons living at Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp in Jos.

    The incident occurred when he visited one of the IDPs at Zawan to give relief materials to the IDPs.

    Stones were thrown at the governor’s car and the vehicles of his entourage that included his Deputy, Prof.  Sonni Tyoden.

    Windscreens of many cars were smashed but the governor escaped unhurt as stones could not penetrate his bullet proof car.

    When Governor Lalong arrived at the IDP camp,   the displaced persons started murmuring: ‘We don’t want relief materials; we want to go back to our ancestral homes’.

    Lalong, in an address before the stoning, assured the people that the State Government would do what it could to address challenges being faced by the Internally Displaced Persons.

    The governor said he visited the IDP camp to see for himself the condition of the displaced persons and ensure that they received the relief materials released by government.

    He urged them to be patient as government was working hard to ensure that their security is guaranteed before they are relocated to their homes.

    Governor Lalong who said government will hunt and arrest their attackers reiterated that he would not allow their ancestral land to be grabbed.

  • Diarrhoea affects children in Plateau IDP camp – NGOs

    No fewer than 100 children in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps are feared to have been affected by diarrhoea, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

    Four Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) confirmed the development to our reporter on Monday in Jos during a free medical outreach at the camps.

    The NGOs are Saphira Global Center For Social Development; Voice For the Girl Child Foundation; Damark Pharmacy and African Child; and Mother Care Safety Initiative, respectively.

    NAN reports that several persons were recently displaced from their homes following the recent attacks on 11 communities in Barkin Ladi and some parts of Bokkos and Riyom Local Government Areas of the state.

    More than 10,000 persons, including women and children, are reportedly being sheltered at the different IDP camps across the state.

    Spokesperson for the NGOs, Mrs Mildred Bako, in an interview with our reporter, attributed the illness among the affected patients within their short stay at the camps to the deplorable health condition of the environment.

    Bako disclosed that many of the affected patients were between the ages of one month to five years.

    She noted that the camps lacked basic amenities such as portable drinking water and clean environment, hence the “victims became vulnerable to contacting all kind of diseases’’.

    Bako described the various camps as an “eyesore”, saying that the hygienic condition was poor and needed urgent attention from government and kind-hearted individuals.

    “There is practically absence of basic amenities at the various camps, and so making the displaced persons fall prey to all kinds of diseases.

    “When we got information that children at various camps are vomiting and passing watery stool, we swung into action to arrest the situation.

    “We assembled a team of medical professionals, who diagnosed most of the children and discovered it is diarrhoea.

    “We have in our little way developed a mechanism to treat the children and even adults diagnosed with symptoms of malaria and other diseases,” she said.

    Bako explained that Riyom camp, housing over 2,000 persons, was the worst hit, with the highest number of children infected with the disease.

    She urged government and spirited individuals to also consider donating health materials and improvement of the health condition of the displaced persons rather than concentrate on donation of food items alone.

    The State Emergency Management Agency (PLASEMA) and the affected local councils are yet to react to the development.

  • Five die as fire engulf IDP camp in Borno

    Over 200 huts at the IDP camp in Rann, Kala-Balge Local Government of Borno State was razed down by fire Monday night.

    The fire incident is coming more than a year after the Nigerian Airforce Jet accidentally hit the IDP camp that killed over 100 people.

    Monday fire incident is said to have killed at least four women and a child.

    A source discloses that the death toll may rise because several IDPs sustained severe degree of burns. Information available also indicates that livestock were also affected in the fire incident.

    The caretaker Chairman of Kalabalge local government area, Bishara Musa Lawan who confirmed the incident to The Nation informed that his parents and family members were also affected by the incident as all of them still reside in the camp after their house was destroyed by the insurgents.

    According to him, ‘“the cause of the fire may be spiritual as the outbreak has become a yearly occurrence right from 1999 whenever dry season sets in”.

    He added, “I have met with Governor Kashim Shettima, and he has made some arrangements for the welfare of the victims .Even though the camp has been overcrowded, there has been arrangement to separate the camp to decongest it before the fire outbreak.

    “Right now I am going there with blankets, mats and food items and other commodities as temporarily measure to ameliorate the immediate problems of the IDPs,” Lawan said.

    Read Also: Fire razes IDP camp in Borno

  • Fresh suicide attacks kill 15, injure 18 in Maiduguri

    Fresh suicide attacks kill 15, injure 18 in Maiduguri

    Borno State Police Commissioner Mr. Damian Chukwu has confirmed the killing of 16 people in a fresh multiple suicide explosions in Maiduguri.

    The suicide attack was said to have occurred on Sunday night at the Muna Garage, a notorious suburb at the outskirts of Maiduguri highly vulnerable to Boko Haram attacks in the recent past, while another attack was carried out at Mauna Dalti, an unregistered IDP camp.

    In a text message to our correspondent, the Borno State Police Commissioner disclosed that, the first suicide attack was carried out by a male suicide bomber at Muna Garage who strapped his body with Improvised Explosives Device(IED) killing himself and thirteen others with five people injured.

    At the Muna Dalti Garage, the CP informed that the heinous act was executed by two female bombers who killed themselves after detonating their body strapped IED injuring thirteen people.

    Mr. Damian Chukwu also explained that the injured persons have been evacuated to University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH). He added that all the dead bodies have been evacuated, while the police EOD team has been deployed to sanitize the area and render it safe.

    The Borno State Police Commissioner has also assured citizens of their safety, just as he disclosed that the command is monitoring the security situation in the state with his men deployed on intelligence surveillance.

    In another development, CP Chukwu has also disclosed that his command intend to open more of their divisions hitherto closed following successful military operations in those areas.

    He added that a feasibility study has already been carried out in Kukawa Local Government to reopen the division to pave way for the restoration of civil authority in the area, stressing that, the mission carried out in the area was hitch-free.

    Read Also: 16 killed, others wounded in Maiduguri attacks

  • Air Force pleads for more time to probe IDP camp bombing  

    Air Force pleads for more time to probe IDP camp bombing  

    The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) at the weekend pleaded for more time to enable it adequately probe the accidental bombings at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Rann, Borno State.

    NAF Spokesperson Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, urged Nigerians to be patient with the Panel of Enquiry, saying the matter would not be swept under the carpet.

    He said: “We are aware of the interest the matter generated within and outside the country. A Board of Enquiry was set up to determine what happened, who are those involved, what led to the accident and how do we prevent a recurrence.

    “We are pleading with Nigerians to be patient with NAF so that the Board of Enquiry will do its assignment diligently. And don’t forget that some of the people involved, victims or their relatives, maybe people who could not speak English. So a thorough job has to be done.

    “And again, remember the NAF for the past seven years has been involved in the campaign against the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast without any accident of such magnitude.

    “So that is why we are saying that at this period, it will do us more good to be encouraged by our many victories and successes in the past seven years, than judging us by our mistakes or shortcomings. Remember there is no human institution that is perfect, therefore the NAF cannot be an exception.”

    Air Commodore Adesanya said the NAF had acquired more aircraft fitted with latest technology to undertake various clearance operations against Boko Haram .

    According to him for now Boko Haram has been so decimated that they could not move freely as before or hoist their flags on any territory belonging to Nigeria, adding the NAF is committed to the on-going clearance operations and flushing out remnants of the insurgent group.

    He added that while a number of security dogs were acquired by NAF to detect explosive and drugs, the NAF had carried out medical treatment of various categories free of charge at different IDPs Camps across the country supported with relief materials worth millions of naira.

    He said besides counter insurgency operations in the Northeast, the NAF Is also involved in Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) operations in the South-south and parts of South-west on oil installations and facilities, and against cattle rustling in the Northwest.

  • Borno records 3,800 new cases of HIV in IDPs camps

    Borno records 3,800 new cases of HIV in IDPs camps

    Malam Barkindo Saidu, the Executive Secretary, Borno Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS (BOSACA), says 3,800 new cases of HIV infections have been recorded in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the state.

    Saidu told newsmen in Maiduguri on Wednesday that the new cases were recorded after voluntary screening in 15 IDPs camps in the state.

    He said that currently 2.4 percent of the population of the state or about 108,000 persons are living with HIV and AIDS, going by the demographic survey provided by the National Population Commission.

    The scribe said: “We recorded 3,800 new cases of HIV between January 2017 to March this year.

    “Also, 70 children in the IDPs camps tested positive.

    “So far, in the whole state we have about 18,101 new cases of persons living with HIV within this period and only 9,438 are currently coming for the Anti-Retroviral Therapy and counselling.

    “Our challenges are enormous and cannot be over emphasised. It will interest you to note that Borno state have not participated in any HIV programme in the last two years.

    “Only tiny portion of the people living with HIV and AIDs can access treatment because most anti-retroviral centres have closed,” he said.

    He explained that only 32 out of the 90 anti-retroviral centres were still operational in the state.

    “Within the last six years, the state was only able to achieve nine per cent out of its HIV reduction prevalence rate in Borno state.

    “This was because the government and other support partners have not given priority attention to the plight of such persons.

    “Governor Shettima had approved N45 million counterpart funding for HIV development programmes since December 2016, but the fund is yet to be released.

    “Three months ago, I wrote a letter to about 29 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to come to the plight of such persons but only UNICEF is assisting.

    “On the 30 March, the Federal Government had received grant for HIV, TB and Malaria from Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Maleria (GPATM). We cannot access this fund until the state government provide counterpart support funding,’’ Saidu said.

    The executive secretary, therefore, renewed his appeal to the state government to release the counterpart fund and urged NGOs to support people living with HIV/AIDS.

  • Benue SUBEB to take over school in IDP camp

    The Executive Chairman, Benue State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Revd Philip Tachin, has promised that the Board would provide a block of classrooms for a school at Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Daudu to compliment the efforts being made by private individuals to provide formal education to the displaced children.

    Tachin, who made this declaration when he visited the camp last Friday, also promised that the government would provide exercise books, text books, sets of furniture as well as deploy teachers to ensure that the children are not deprived of basic education.

    The SUBEB boss said the move is in line with the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Law which mandates free and compulsory education for the first nine years of schooling (primary and junior secondary school).

    He said the Universal Basic Education Commisssion (UBEC) is committed to promoting inclusive education to enable integration of vulnarable children into the UBE scheme.

    Speaking while taking Tachin and his team on tour of the camp, the Head of Field Unit, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sam Agwa, said there were over 120 children belonging to 156 households in the camp.

    He also said the camp is currently providing shelter for about 1000 internally displaced persons.

    In his remarks, the kindred Head of Mbayongo, Chief Akaa Dajo applauded government’s efforts in providing shelter for the displaced people. He called for improved security around the camp as herdsmen who displaced the people are intruding with their cattle.

    The Priest of St. Francis Catholic Mission, Daudu Revd Fr. Ukeyima Solomon Mfa who was present at the inspection promised to donate some uniforms for the pupils.

    Tachin, who was in company of the Director Social Mobilisation, Mr Ihyagh Sylvester, donated toiletries and biscuits to the children and also appreciated the volunteer teachers.

     

  • Femi Kuti visits Borno IDP camp

    Femi Kuti visits Borno IDP camp

    Living up to his family’s love for the common man, Afrobeat musician, Femi Kuti, on Monday, visited an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Maiduguri, Borno State.

    Femi, a multiple award-winning musician and son of Afrobeat legend and political activist, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was on a national assignment, according to the Facebook handle of his club, Afrika Shrine.

    The post which also showed a picture of the artiste sitting in a place that looks like an airport lounge, reads: ‘On the march again: Femi Kuti departs to Maiduguri for an international rescue committee assignment at the IDP camp.’

    Also posted were pictures showing Femi, talking with health workers at the IDP camp and another one in which he is surrounded by children in the camp.

    A lot of fans have been praising the Grammy nominee and KORA award winner for his humanitarian work while also wishing him a safe return.

    Among those who reacted to the posts are Latoya Aduke Ekemode who wrote, ‘Safe Journey Femi’ and Jojo Bodybeats who said, ‘I wish you journey mercy shoki baba.’

    Also, Renault Véronique wrote, ‘thanks for what you’re doing for peace and respect’ while a poster, Fela Broadway, wrote: ‘For the benefit of us that take Femi Anikulapo-Kuti for granted. It’s fair to state that he was birthed by Nigeria’s greatest show of compassion; “The Fela Legacy”.’

    As a result of terrorism activities carried out by Boko Haram insurgents, thousands of Nigerians in the northeast states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa have been sacked from their homes and sources of livelihood.