The Borno State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, says 30,000
Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, who fled the state at the peak of
the Boko Haram insurgency have returned home.
Abdullahi Umar, the spokesperson of the agency, said in a statement
issued in Maiduguri on Wednesday that the figure was part of the
78,000 IDPs that fled the state to Cameroon during the period.
Mr. Umar said that the returnees were part of the 43,000 IDPs that
signified interest to return home.
He said the displaced persons were being kept in a camp at Banki in
Bama Local Government Area of the state.
He said that a team of SEMA officials had already visited the camp to
assess their condition.
“The SEMA Executive Secretary, Malam Alkali Goni, has led a delegation
of the agency to Banki to assess the conditions of the IDPs,” he said.
The spokesman also said that the IDPs had been assured that the State
Government had made adequate provisions for their welfare.
He quoted Baba Shehu, the Caretaker Chairman of the local government,
as thanking the state government for the gesture and promising
judicious use of the items donated.