Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum has ordered the immediate closure of the Bama Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Bama, which has the largest displacement facility outside Maiduguri, the state capital.

The governor revealed that no fewer than 3,000 households have returned to their liberated and safe communities in the state.

Zulum stated this on Friday in Gwoza town shortly after an assessment visit to Government Secondary School IDP camp in the Bama township located along the Gwoza-Bama Road.

He said: profiled all of them and Insha Allah, in the next two or three weeks this camp will also be closed,” he said.

According to him, the return has been made possible by the relative peace now prevailing in most communities hitherto occupied by Boko Haram insurgents.

“In the past seven years, Borno State government has successfully resettled several communities in Bama Local Council,” including Darajamal, Nguro Soye, Goniri, Banki, Abbaram, Ngoshe, Kirawa, Warabe and other locations across the state,” Zulum added.

The governor, however, expressed deep concern over the rising criminality within IDP camps, pointing to the proliferation of illicit activities that have turned the facilities into hotspots for social vices.

He also raised the alarm over the disturbing trend of people leaving their homes to resettle in camps to collect relief items from non-governmental organisations.

The governor hinted that a significant number of fake IDPs had been identified during the screening exercise, stressing that the government cannot sustain the maintenance of camps under such circumstances.

The governor also hinted that the Gwoza IDP camp would follow the Bama camp in the next phase of closures, assuring that several other camps in different parts of the state will be closed before his tenure ends.

“We will ensure the returns are sustainable. A year ago, this was almost a ghost camp with not more than about 400 households. It is surprising that about 3,000 households are back in the camp, and most of them are residents living within the town,” he said.