NAN – The Borno Government said it had established a special camp to cater for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and returnees recently repatriated from the Republic of Niger.
Alhaji Grema Terab, Chairman, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), told newsmen on Saturday in Maiduguri that government had decided to establish a special camp for the returnees because of their peculiar case.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that no fewer than 6,000 Nigerians taking refuge in some communities in Republic of Niger were sent packing by the Nigerien authorities.
NAN reports that the affected Nigerians, mostly inhabitants of Lake Chad, have returned to the country to pave way for military operations against insurgency by the Nigerien authorities.
Terab said: “some of the IDPs were living in border communities between Nigeria and Republic of Niger for years without having any business to visit the hinterland.
“We have to keep them in a camp for now, cater for them and treat those that are traumatised with the intention of allowing them to settle with other Nigerians soon,’’ he said.
He said government was working towards assisting the returnees with fund to start their own businesses.
Grema said that another set of 17 mass transit buses had been dispatched to Geidam in Yobe State to convey the second batch of over 1,200 returnees.