Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum has declared 1,108 internally displaced persons (IDPs) as ghosts or absentees for camps. The identification of ghost IDPs was made during the recent unscheduled visits to Mohammed Goni Islamic and Legal Studies (MOGOLIS) and NYSC IDP camps in Maiduguri metropolis. According to him, the visits were to ascertain the actual population of IDPs in camps that receive the monthly coupons or tickets for food items. He said that the March 7, 2021 visit to MOGOLIS camp led to the presence of only 450 IDPs out of the 1,000 registered ones in camp. While at the NYSC IDP camp, the official register also indicated that 1,316 households are taking refuge in their respective tents. The visit of the Governor to the NYSC camp for census on Wednesday, March 24, however revealed a total of 528 ghost IDPs. However, the affected displaced persons condemned Zulum’s action on the absentee or ghost workers in camps. They also insisted that the inadequate supply of food items to camps, forced them to engage in hard labour outside the IDP camps. The remaining IDPs, according to one of the camp managers (name withheld) are either living with their relations in the metropolis or travelled out. Bukar Modu, an IDP of MOGOLIS however told The Guardian at the weekend in Maiduguri that Zulum was not fair to the absentee IDPs, as some of them live with their relations in Maiduguri. He argued that a tent could not contain eleven-family members in the camp. Mustapha Abba, who returned from Damaturu after the Governor’s visit to camp; said: “I’m not happy with Zulum’s visit, as I had to travel to get food items for my family members in camp.” He complained that the distributed food items in camp, are however inadequate to feed the family. Abba however expressed worry for declaring him as ghost IDP by the Governor. Meanwhile, some women and their children have resorted to begging in streets and other public places to survive from being displaced by the over a decade Boko Haram insurgency.
