•Orders screening of IDPS, combing of camps
Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima has received with utter shock and sadness information concerning the murder of an Internally Displaced Person (IDP), whose body was found at the Shettima Ali Monguno Teachers Village camp on Thursday.
Initial reports, though unconfirmed, indicated that the victim was beheaded in the camp after a misunderstanding between him and some aggrieved youth over his girlfriend among the fleeing IDPs and the governor has ordered a thorough search and seizure of the camp for weapons.
Needless to say, there would be serious problems in the nearest future when IDPs return to their communities following illegal marriages that were entered into among them while in the camps. Some of the marriages were contracted among those who were previously married with their former spouses, but due to the sacking and displacement of their communities by insurgents, some fled to neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad Republic, while their wives fled into camps in Nigeria and later married other men they met in the camps.
The fully fenced camp, located at Pompamari, near the headquarters of the Garrison Commander, 7 Division, Nigerian Army hosts 13,000 displaced persons from Ngala and Kukawa local government areas with two Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) of Ngala and Kukawa alongside policemen under their formations live at the camp as part of security measures long adopted by government.
According to a close government source, the male victim’s body was not found beheaded. Contrary to media reports, the victim was found with his hands tied and bruises on his head apparently resulting from being battered.
Governor Kashim Shettima who is very much disturbed has since ordered immediate investigations by the police and demanded arrest of any person connected to the incident.
The governor also directed officials to comb the camp throughout the night of Thursday to search within and around the camp to ensure no displaced person has any object that can cause bodily injury to another person.
The police have recovered the body of the victim but his identity will be revealed to members of the public only after his family is contacted.
Meanwhile, the Executive Chairman of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, Engineer Garba Satomi informed Governor Shettima on Thursday that the police have arrested a displaced person in connection with the the attack and that more suspects where being trailed.
Satomi also said the investigation has so far pointed at a disagreement between a group of youths who later conspired and attacked the murdered victim.
As at 8pm of Thursday, camp officials were already complying with Governor Shettima’s orders as meetings were being held between officials and chairmen of the two local government areas at the camp with participation of members of the civilian JTF while the camp was combed with searches being conducted.
However, Shettima said the government will never accept threats in any IDP camp where citizens already suffer the trauma of being displaced as a result of insurgency attacks.
12,000 Nigerians in Cameroun seek to return as VSF team visits Borno
The Victims Support Fund (VSF) assessment team to Borno State was to “comprehensively assess” the security situation and accessibilities in the border areas of Gambouru and Ngala towns, before about 12,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Cameroon could be repatriated and resettled in any camp, its Executive Secretary, Prof. Sunday Ocheche has said.
Ocheche disclosed the arrangement Thursday at Fotoko, Cameroon, when the VSF five-member team visited fleeing residents of Gambouru and Ngala at three resettlement areas of Mura, Amchide and Fotoko districts. The administrative officer of Fotokol, Mamoudou Umaru Sarki also said that over 12, 000 Nigerian residents are taking refuge in the camps comprising 225 households to be repatriated to Nigeria.
He noted that the displaced persons in Cameroon could not be relocated and repatriated, until the security “situation and accessibilities” identified by the VSF team, are addressed by the military and Borno State government.
His words: “There are many factors that must be considered before determining whether to set up a camp or not. There is no question that there are many Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) along the 135 kilometre road to Gamboru. We have just crossed the border to Cameroon and quite a number of Nigerians there are anxious to return.”
On the security situation, he said: “The security situation in Gambouru looks from a layman’s perspective to be okay. The military has done a good job of clearing the place; but you can see, it is a ghost town.
“There is not a single structure, not a single thing standing in Gamboru. Everything has been razed. The crises of reconstructing Gambouru is a major one; and when people are going to come back to Gamboru, it is not just to return to a camp or tent; they want to return to normal life. And these are all issues that this assessment team wanted to take into consideration.”
However, he noted that in the interim, for the number of people outside the country that may want to come back will be assessed based on the security situations and accessibilities in affected border areas of Borno State.