The Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, recently announced that the Muna Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp in Maiduguri that houses over 11,000 people, would be closed in a week’s time.

Muna IDP camp, established over 10 years ago, is one of the largest camps of the many located in the State at the height of the humanitarian crisis caused by insurgency that has lasted years in the State.

Announcing the closure during an early morning visit to the camp last week, Governor Zulum cited high-level illicit activities in the camp as the major reason for the closure.

“We have observed that in the IDP camp, there is increased level of prostitution, gangsterism, cases of child abuse and other criminalities.

“Boko Haram can never be eradicated without resettlement taking place. People have to go back to their homes and earn their livelihood,” he said.

Recall that four years ago, Zulum announced that all the 12 formal IDP camps in the State capital, Maiduguri would be shut down, which he successfully did, except the two informal camps.

“We had in 2024 resettled about 75 per cent of the IDPs here (Muna camp), and the remaining 25 per cent will return to their ancestral localities in the next few days,” he said while fielding questions from newsmen.

According to the Governor, each of the 6,000 households in the camp will receive food aid, shelter materials and access to health care services as part of the resettlement process.

He also announced that each head of a household (male or female) will receive N100,000, and an additional N50,000 will be given to all the housewives.

IDP camp closure refers to the process of closing and relocating internally displaced persons (IDPs) from camps to their areas of origin or other host communities. This is often part of a broader strategy to transition IDPs towards more sustainable and durable solutions, including voluntary returns and integration in host communities.

Hunger, child abuse forcing us out – IDPs

During a visit to the camp, most of the inhabitants interviewed by Weekend Trust said relocating them to their ancestral homes was a welcome development.

Abatcha Jur, who relocated to the camp 10 years ago from Bale village in Mafa Local Government Area, said he was happy with the governor’s decision to return them to their ancestral homes.

“I don’t see any reason why we should continue staying here. Our homes and farmlands are there getting ruined by the day, and food support is no longer coming,” he said.

Malam Ali Zangibe, who said he was dislodged by the terrorists from his village in Mafa Local Government, said they no longer had any fear of insecurity in their area.

“We welcome the relocation if the government can keep to its words of food and monetary support to us. We will go home and start doing something. I was a big-time farmer in my village before destiny brought us here,” he said.

Yana Kari Mustapha, a widow left with 12 children to cater for, said she escaped to the camp with her husband from Kaltaram village in Mafa Local Government, but added, “Unfortunately, I lost him to a brief illness. We now have to go out, farm or do some menial jobs to feed ourselves.”

She described life in the camp as unbearable, saying, “I will love to return to the village and start a new life there.”

Nana Aisha, a woman leader in the camp, said the rate of moral decadence of children in the camp was worrisome to everyone in the society.

She attributed the condition they found themselves to food problems, which force women and children into prostitution, drugs and child labour.

“The way things are going on here is terrifying. Our little children are exposed to so many bad and obscene behaviours and no action is being taken.

“The most unfortunate part of it is that some parents rely on these children to feed, not minding how they are getting the money. We are not sending them to school – formal or informal education. How can we control them when they can’t differentiate between wrong and right? These children will become a time bomb if we don’t take action,” she noted.

Another community leader in the camp, Alhaji Modu, said it was imperative for the parents to train their children, else they would come back to haunt them.

“Whatever moral you teach your child, it will one day come back to you; good or bad, wrong or right,” he said.

Suleiman Ibrahim, who is preparing to move his family out of the camp, said he was heading to Gultram village in Damaturu to farm and finally settle there.

“I go there every rainy season to farm and return, but I have decided to settle there this time around as I am not convinced with the security situation in our village. However, majority of the people said they would want to return,” he said.

The chairman of Muna IDP Camp, Mallam Abatcha Mustapha, had described life there as very difficult, citing the stoppage of food intervention as the major reason.

“We found ourselves in a very difficult situation when they stopped supplying food to us. We await a directive from the governor to return to our ancestral homes in Dikwa and Mafa local government areas. Once our communities are declared safe and the governor asks us to return, we will gladly do so because we are not happy living in the camp,” he said during a town hall meeting organised by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA),

Abiso Kadi, the chairman of Persons Living with Disability in the camp, said they faced acute food shortage.

“Since the temporary withdrawal of food intervention in this camp, life became too difficult for us. I have no job to do here as a blind man. All I relied on was the handouts, and they are no more.

“I am a blind man, but for three months I have been struggling with what to eat, unlike in the village where I cultivated my farmland. We were all displaced by Boko Haram insurgents. I am tired of living in IDPs,” he lamented.

Ari Abdullahi, a big time farmer displaced by Boko haram in Dikwa, who claimed to

have been cultivating hectares of land while in the village, said the insurgents shot his leg and rendered him disabled.

“You can see that I now walk with crutches, so there is less I can do for myself; and I have not been getting any food assistance. We sometimes beg to eat, something I abhorred,” he said.

In the meeting, which our correspondent was part of, leaders of the camp opened up on the increased cases of drug abuse, prostitution, child abuse, security threats and other social vices within the camp.

They also called on the government, both state and federal, to support them and ensure their safe return to their ancestral homes in Dikwa and Mafa local government areas.

In June 2024, Governor Zulum resettled 75 per cent of the IDPs in the camp to areas where security situation improved in six local government areas – Bama, Gwoza, Jere, Konduga, Kukawa and Ngala. However, IDPs from areas with security challenges in Mafa and Dikwa local government areas were left in the camp.

Weekend Trust reached out to the the Borno State Commissioner of Information and Internal Security to find out security measures being put in place before the IDPs return to their homes, he however, did not respond to messages as at the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, prior to the closure of the camp, Borno State governor, Prof Babagana Umara Zulum, expressed his resolve to construct 85,000 new houses in 66 affected communities across the state.

He said the aim was to resettle the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and other victims of Boko Haram insurgency in the state. (Weekend Trust)