Zulum to shut down Borno’s largest IDP camp July

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has announced that the Bama Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp, the largest camp in the state outside Maiduguri, will be closed within the next one month.

Zulum stated this on Thursday in an interview with journalists after an assessment visit to the Government Science Secondary School, Bama IDP camp. Next month from the interview date is July.

The governor personally supervised the screening of displaced persons for more than three hours to ensure that only genuine households are captured in the resettlement programme.

He expressed his administration’s commitment to ending displacement in Bama Local Government Area.

“We are here to examine the remaining displaced people that are living in the IDP camp with a view to ensuring the closure of Bama IDP camp,” Zulum stated.

The governor said the exercise forms part of the ongoing efforts to facilitate the safe and dignified return of displaced families to their ancestral communities following years of disruption caused by Boko Haram insurgency.

Over the past seven years, Borno State Government has successfully resettled several communities in Bama Local Government, including Darajamal, Nguro Soye, Goniri, Banki, and Abbaram. Bama remains one of the local government areas worst hit by insurgency, with thousands of residents displaced from their homes.

Governor Zulum stated that the screening of male households from the affected communities has already been completed, and that an effort is underway to complete the resettlement process and permanently shut down the facility.

“We have three communities that are left to be resettled, namely, communities from Mayanti, Goniri, and Bula Kuriye. By the next one month, the Bama IDP camp, which is the largest camp in the state outside the state capital, will be closed,” he added.