Kashim Shettima, Governor of Borno State has disclosed that all
Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps in the state would be closed
down by May 29, 2017.
Shettima told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Maiduguri, the state has nearly two million displaced persons.
He said the government had placed priority on the reconstruction of
communities destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents, to facilitate the return
of IDPs to their towns and villages.
“We have reconstructed Bama by 25 per cent; my target is to reach 50
per cent by the end of this year and 75 per cent by first quarter of
2017.
“I want to close down all IDP camps latest May 29, 2017, because the IDP camps are becoming a huge problem on their own.
“If we allow the entrenchment of these IDP camps, they are pregnant
with loads of challenges of early child marriage, prostitution, drug
abuse, gangsterism.
“And we will be confronted with huge social challenges of an
entitlement complex of people feeling that they are entitled to be
catered for.
“So in as much as we observe the Kampala convention, we will not compel anybody to return to their communities.
According to him, “by December we are taking back all the people of Kaga Local Government Area.”
Shettima believed that with time, Nigerians would appreciate the
modest accomplishment of the state towards the resettlement of the IDPs.