Nine Out Of 102 Abducted Borno IDPs Return Home

Nine internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Gamboru-Ngala camp have reportedly made their way back after being purportedly abducted by Boko Haram terrorists on March 4.

Director-General of Borno’s State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Dr Barkindo Mohammed Saidu, told Punch Newspaper that the nine IDPs had found their way back to the camp and that authorities in Ngala are on high alert for any more returns.

Naija News recalls that 102 IDPs were allegedly abducted by Boko Haram terrorists on March 4.

This incident happened while the IDPs were gathering firewood in the bush.

Local sources and media reports had confirmed the abduction, a development that was further corroborated by the United Nations’ condemnation of the alleged kidnapping of over 200 IDPs.

Contrarily, the Borno State government refuted these claims, suggesting instead that the individuals merely lost their way.

However, reacting to the development,  Saidu expressed scepticism about the abduction narrative. Speaking to journalists in Maiduguri on March 8, Saidu argued that the absence of ransom demands was evidence against the abduction theory.

He was quoted by Punch to have said, “If they were abducted, the abductors would have, by now, called for ransom; but nobody has called anybody for any ransom yet.

“You would have observed that the state government restrained all along from quoting any number because we know the IDPs very well because we are the ones managing their affairs; they are economical with the truth.”

Dr. Saidu explained: “We don’t believe the IDPs in this abduction narrative and the number of those they said were abducted; the IDPs are not trustworthy.

“There is no trust between them (IDPs) and government and between them and NGOs; there is even no trust among themselves; if it is about food and other essential commodities distribution, or they want to raise public sympathy for them among the public, they exaggerate numbers; if it is about anything they don’t want, like immunisation, they reduce numbers.”