Nigeria: Amnesty International concerned about closures of IDP camps in Borno state
IDPs in a camp near Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria, June 6, 2017 © REUTERS / Akintunde Akinleye
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3 min
In Nigeria, plans to close camps for displaced people in the north of the country could endanger tens of thousands of people.
In a report published this Wednesday, December 15, Amnesty International warns of the situation of nearly 10,000 internally displaced families living in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.
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It was still dark when Babagana Zulum, the governor of Borno State, arrived in Bakassi camp on November 19, to tell the displaced that they had just over ten days to leave.
They received food aid and money.
A little over 200 euros for men.
And a hundred euros for the women.
Despite this boost, Binetou did not return home, reports our correspondent in Nigeria,
Liza Fabbian
.
The way back
She simply moved her tent a few meters from the camp grounds: “
We can't live there anymore.
Those who wanted to return had to turn around, because there is nothing left and gunshots are heard every day.
I cannot forget the day I fled the Lake Chad region on foot and how I walked to Monguno before reaching Baga.
Whenever I hear a noise, I believe it is a gunshot.
"
While some preferred to stay in Maiduguri, others stopped in the town of Gwoza, secured by the army, without reaching their villages. However, the closure of the camps has become inevitable according to Hamsatu Allamin, activist for peace in Maiduguri: “
We maintain a corrupt system. Emergency humanitarian aid is not expected to last. It's been 12 years now
! So when is it going to end
? Our lives can't go on like this, so maybe we have to start somewhere.
"
As for the authorities of Borno State, they are counting on the resilience of the populations to reconquer territories abandoned for years.
IDPs who have found refuge in Maiduguri will have to return to the land they fled.
This plan is unacceptable to many civil society organizations, as attacks by jihadist fighters
from the Boko Haram group
and the Islamic State organization in West Africa are still very frequent.
Many areas still escape the control of the authorities despite Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's promises to make the fight against insecurity one of his priorities.
Dangerous areas
While authorities in Borno state deny that people are being forced into dangerous areas, NGOs disagree. They take as an example the attacks that targeted the camps to which the Nigerian authorities had been guided refugees. On August 30, in Mafa, near Maiduguri, 6 people were killed and 14 injured just one month after resettling.
Internally displaced people in Agiri and Shuwari, for example, face severe food shortages as they are denied humanitarian assistance, more than four months after being forced to relocate.
The government had promised to give each family about $ 242 for food.
But of course he only paid these families around $ 48 and since then nothing more has been paid.
So these families are complaining and saying that the government cannot make promises and willfully refuse to honor them.
Seun Bakare (Amnesty International): "10,000 households will be at risk if they are forcibly returned"
Tancred Chambraud
►Also read: In Nigeria, the activities of the NGO Acted suspended in Borno State
—Nigeria: Plans to close IDP camps in Maiduguri could endanger lives.
—More than 10,000 households at risk.
https://t.co/rEPpRz53ad
- Amnesty International Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) December 16, 2021
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