Humanitarian Minister Sympathises With Victims Of Borno IDP Camp Fire
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, has condemned the incessant fire incidents that have left thousands of Internally Displaced Persons exposed in the camps after years of dislodgement from their homes vowing that her ministry will bring to an end the recurring incident.
The minister, while reacting to the fire outbreak that killed four IDPs and destroyed over three thousand shelters in the Muna Elbadawy IDP camp on Friday in Maiduguri, expressed sadness over the loss of lives and property.
She said the incident happened at a time when the Federal government, through her ministry, is making frantic efforts to ensure dignity and sanity of lives and property of the displaced persons who are yet to be resettled.
This was contained in the statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Bashir Alkali, and made available to The PUNCH on Sunday in Maiduguri.
In the release, the Minister sympathised with the families of those who lost their beloved ones in the fire and also assured that such recurring incidents will be investigated to end the menace as the continuous incidents in the IDP camps are becoming embarrassing to the government.
Farouq said in the statement, “Reports reaching me confirms that four IDPs were killed in one of the IDP camps in Muna area of Jere LGA of Borno State and 3,000 shelters destroyed while dozens of households were displaced.
“I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and all the victims of the inferno.
We regret the unfortunate incident but I wish to state that the government is working tirelessly to improve the wellbeing of all the citizens living in the camps by building decent accommodation and providing necessary assistance to them.”
According to the Permanent Secretary, the Minister had directed all relevant agencies both at the federal and state governments to provide relief materials to the over ten thousand IDPs affected by the fire while permanent shelters are being built to relocate them.
“I have directed the National Emergency Management Agency to immediately dispatch relief materials to the affected victims at the camp while an assessment will be conducted to ascertain the cause of the fire and also the level of damage,” the statement further read.
