Gist
One Dead, Others Injured As Fire Guts IDP Camps In Borno
One side of the IDP camp in Nganzai Local Government Area of Borno State has reportedly caught up with fire.
It was gathered that the inferno which is suspected to have started from cooking firewood, consumed no fewer than 600 shelters on Wednesday, February 17.
Naija News learnt that it took over an hour before the fire could be put off. Confirming the incident a few moments ago, a source at the National Emergency Management Agency said it was difficult to get full details of the Nganzai fire as the town is difficult to travel to due to the constant threat of Boko Haram attack on the highway leading to the area.
Another fire incident was said to have occurred at the highly populated Customs IDP camp in Maiduguri today. The incident, according to some displaced persons at the camp, ravaged many huts and led to the death of a child with two old women injured.
Speaking to reporters on the incident, one of the IDPs said, “The fire outbreak consumed parts of the camp and was put out by the combined efforts of the IDPs, security agents and officials of the federal and state fire service.”
He added: “Surprisingly enough, when everyone thought the doom was over, a fire broke out in another part of the same camp (Customs IDP camp) about four hours later, destroying many of the makeshift tents.
On his part, the spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency in the North-East, Mallam AbdulKadir Ibrahim, said a team has been dispatched to assess the damage at the Maiduguri camp.
He said: “It is sad that after a series of lectures organized for the IDPs on how to handle fire and to cook, they keep making mistakes that continue to cause infernos.
“Two days ago, there was an inferno at Nganzai camp and just today (Wednesday) there is this one at the Customs IDP camp.”
Ibrahim added, “We (NEMA) are left with no other choice but to continue to enlighten the displaced persons on how to handle fire and cook.” When contacted on the matter, the Acting Zonal Coordinator, NEMA, Ishaya Chinoko, said the emergency response had been dispatched and initial needs assessment conducted.
He, however, promised that relief would soon be provided to the affected victims.
