Gov to Close all IDP Camps by May, 2017

Borno State governor, Kashim Shet­tima, has said that all Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in the state would be closed down by May 29, 2017.
The governor told newsmen on Friday in Maiduguri, that the state has nearly two million displaced persons the IDP camps
Shettima said the gov­ernment had placed pri­ority on the reconstruc­tion of communities destroyed by Boko Ha­ram insurgents. This he said would facilitate the return of IDPs to their towns and villages.
“We have reconstruct­ed Bama by 25 percent; my target is to reach 50 percent by the end of this year and 75 percent by the first quarter of 2017.

“I want to close down all IDP camps latest May 29, 2017, because the IDP camps are becom­ing a huge problem on their own.
“If we allow the en­trenchment of these IDP camps, they are pregnant with loads of challenges of early child marriage, prostitution, drug abuse, gangsterism.
“And we will be con­fronted with huge social challenges of an entitle­ment complex of people feeling that they are en­titled to be catered for.
“So in as much as we observe the Kampala Convention, we will not compel anybody to re­turn to their communi­ties.
“But we know our people better than any other person, and it is not for somebody sitting in Abuja, Paris, London, US and any other places to dictate to us on how we should live our lives.
“Our people, in spite of their poverty, still have some pride left in them, a lot of them will rather go back to their com­munities and eat guinea corn and millet than to eat your rice and chicken in the IDP camps.
“This is why we want to restore the dignity of our people by rebuilding their homes, rebuilding their schools, engaging them in gender empow­erment initiatives so as to enable them return back to their homes,” Shettima said.