Zulum Orders Closure of Bama IDP Camp, Plans Shutdown of Gwoza Facility

Zulum Orders Closure of Bama IDP Camp, Plans Shutdown of Gwoza Facility

Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has ordered the immediate closure of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Bama, the largest displacement facility outside Maiduguri, citing improved security conditions and concerns over rising criminal activities within the camps.

Governor Zulum announced the decision on Thursday during an assessment visit to the Government Secondary School IDP Camp in Gwoza.

According to the governor, the Bama camp was scheduled for closure following the completion of a screening and profiling exercise conducted by the state government.

“We visited Bama yesterday and supervised the screening of IDPs, and by 12 noon, Bama IDP camp should be closed. Today we are here in Gwoza, we have profiled all of them, and Insha Allah, in the next two or three weeks this camp will also be closed,” Zulum said.

The governor attributed the move to the relative peace that has returned to many communities previously affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, enabling displaced residents to return to their ancestral homes.

Over the past seven years, the Borno State Government has facilitated the resettlement of displaced persons in several communities across Bama Local Government Area, including Darajamal, Nguro Soye, Goniri, Banki, Abbaram, Ngoshe, Kirawa and Warabe, among others.

Zulum, however, expressed concern over what he described as increasing criminality within some IDP camps, warning that the facilities were becoming vulnerable to infiltration by criminal elements.

“In our camps now, there is ongoing criminality. We have identified all of them and they will be resettled based on their localities and community heads. Otherwise, Boko Haram and ISWAP are gradually infiltrating the camps,” he stated.

The governor also decried the growing number of people who, despite living in their communities, allegedly return to the camps to access humanitarian assistance distributed by non-governmental organisations.

He disclosed that the screening exercise uncovered a significant number of individuals who were not genuinely displaced but had returned to the camps to benefit from relief materials.

“Many of those who are residents living in their homes are returning to the camps to receive handouts from non-governmental organisations. We will ensure the returns are sustainable,” he said.

Zulum noted that the Gwoza camp would be the next facility to be shut down, adding that several other camps across the state would also be closed before the end of his administration.

The governor reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring the safe, dignified and sustainable resettlement of displaced persons while restoring normalcy to communities affected by years of insurgency in the state.

Zulum Orders Closure of Bama IDP Camp, Plans Shutdown of Gwoza Facility