Security officials used their might on Monday, August 1, to remove internally displaced persons from Dalori Camp 2, with some operatives even threatening to flog residents who were still at the shelter after 5pm.
The government officially shut down the camp on Monday.
RNI visited the camp on Tuesday, August 2, to see what was happening at the camp, where the remaining IDPs, mostly from the Konduga Local Government Area, had been living.
The last of the residents were seen leaving the camp, some carrying their belongings on their heads, others pushing overflowing wheelbarrows and still others loading their possessions into cars and pick-up trucks.
The IDPs told RNI that although the Borno State government had given them food and other essential items, as well as ₦50,000, it had not provided an alternative place for them to stay. They said it was not fair to be left stranded, especially in the rainy season.
Mallam Modu, an IDP from Konduga, said: “It’s true that the security operatives warned us to leave the camp on Monday because the government had already given us humanitarian aid, including cash, food and some essential items. So, it’s imperative for us to leave the camp but we do not have any other place to go. That’s why most of us are complaining – how can they force us out without providing shelter somewhere else, especially in the rainy season?
“The security operatives vowed to flog anyone on sight within the camp from 5pm. That’s why people are struggling to get their belongings out of the camp.”
He said the government had resettled IDPs from the Bama Local Government Area. It had also allowed about 100 IDPs from the Konduga Local Government Area to resettle at the Dalori housing estate. But even though the authorities had told them to leave, most of those from Konduga had not been allocated a place to stay.
“The problem is that the government did not inform us that it would resettle only a few of us from Konduga. That’s why we did not look for a house or some other shelter to stay. All of us were optimistic, thinking that the government would either resettle us in our ancestral homes or at the Dalori housing estate. But now look at us and the situation in which we have found ourselves. We don’t know where to go,” Modu said.
“We are grateful to the government for providing one bag of rice, one bag of maize, one carton of spaghetti, one gallon of cooking oil and ₦50,000. But we do not have a house or place to stay. Not even temporary tents. During the rainy season we urgently need shelter. Now we have been left to find a place of our own.”
Hajja Hassan confirmed that the security operatives had given the remaining IDPs “a dire warning to vacate the camp”.
That was why everyone was scrambling to get their belongings out of the camp, he said.
“Of course, it’s highly commendable that the government gave us assistance, but our major concern now is that we don’t have a place or house to stay. But how do we keep our little children dry and safe?”
Hassan said the government had treated the remaining IDPs unfairly by giving some people a place to stay at the Dalori housing estate while the rest were left stranded and struggling to find shelter.
“We are from the Maleri ward of the Konduga Local Government Area and we don’t know if that is the reason we were not given a place to stay. They are treating us like strangers. Are we not from Konduga? Are we not Nigerians? Just look at the way we are suffering.
“Right now, we don’t know where to go. Maybe we will go to some villages where there are no inhabitants. We might be able to build a thatch house or even live in a temporary tent. It’s impossible for us to be homeless and without a shelter with our babies and children in the rainy season. That is our greatest concern. We want to know whether the government will help us or not.”
Another IDP, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “What kind of resettlement is this? The security operatives chased us away; we spent the night with our wives, infants and children in the rain. The government is now claiming that it has resettled all IDPs from Dalori Camp 2, but this is not the truth. The government has not resettled all the IDPs, especially those from Konduga. It resettled a few at the Dalori housing estate. But the rest of us have just been left behind and forgotten. We believe corruption is involved and that officials who were responsible for giving out houses have cheated us.”
The man said there were about 350 IDPs, mostly from Konduga, who had been left stranded and homeless.
“We don’t know where to go and we don’t have the means to rent a house. The ₦50,000 given to us by the government as a livelihood support is not enough to buy foodstuffs and take care of the family, let alone to rent a house.”
He said there were a lot of unoccupied houses in the Dalori housing estate.
“We don’t know why the government did not resettle us there, too. I have a wife and five children and with us are my father and my brother with their families. And we don’t know where to go. We are begging the government to provide us with a place to stay, at least until the rainy season is over. After that we can find a house somewhere else.”
SHETTIMA LAWAN MONGUNO
