Fire has gutted the Customs House Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp; destroying 620 makeshift shelters along Dikwa road in Borno. The gutted IDP camp accommodates 14, 250 displaced persons, before being sacked by Boko Haram from Dikwa, Mafa and Bama councils. Confirm the incident Wednesday in Maiduguri, the Camp Manager, Usman Mohammed told The Guardian that the fire was put off by a combined team of IDPs, security agents and officials of the federal and state fire service.
“A child lost his life; while two elderly women sustained injuries during the early morning inferno,” he said, noting that over 50 per cent of the camp was flattened by fire. On how camp was gutted, he said: “Four hours later, another inferno outbreaks in another part of camp; destroying many makeshift tents,” stating that even though the cause of inferno, is yet to be identified, but the two-day northeast winds triggered the fire. He said the affected IDPs are from Dikwa Local Government and currently in dire need of assistance.
The acting Zonal Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ishaya Chinoko, said that emergency response had been dispatched to assess the basic needs of fire victims. He assured that relief materials would soon be provided to the affected IDPs. Custom House camp has a total of 14,250 displaced persons from three local government areas of Dikwa, Mafa and Bama
