Internally displaced persons
(IDPs) in Borno state are reportedly being forced back home to ruins, without
guarantee of their safety.
According to Reuters, the move is
to show progress in the war against Boko Haram insurgency as the 2019 elections
approach.
The IDPs are reportedly being
told that they must return home if they wish to continue to receive help from
the federal government.
In June, some 2,000 IDPs living
in Bakassi camp in Maiduguri, Borno state capital, were reportedly asked to
return to a town called Guzamala.
According to the report, the government
and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been
meeting to discuss how to expedite the return of the IDPs to enable them
register to vote.
“They said, ‘If you refuse to
return, you are on your own, the government will not help you anymore’,” one of
the returnees identified as Hassan said.
Apart from the communities being
unsafe, the IDPs also complained that they cannot earn a living in the area due
to the activities of the insurgents.
“We were deceived,” an IDP identified
as Modu was quoted as saying. “There is nothing in Guzamala other than
suffering.”
Reuters described the area as a
“wasteland,” adding that most of the structures there are still shattered.
“There, some food and supplies –
enough to feed a family of 10 for a day, according to one man – were
distributed,” the report added.
“Since then, the returnees have
been left for weeks at a time to fend for themselves. Some soldiers took pity
on them and handed over their own water rations.”
The news agency said no
government official responded to an enquiry on the issue.
There are currently no less than
7.7 million people in the north-east in need of aid to survive as a result of
the Boko Haram insurgency in the region, says the UN.
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