United Nations
The United Nations has called for the
decongestion of internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) camps in the
North-east to ward off cases of fire incident and outbreak of Coronavirus pendemic.
A statement by the United Nations Office
for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) on Sunday lamented
that about 15 fire outbreaks had been recorded in IDP camps since the
beginning of the year affecting more than 15,000 people in Borno State.
The statement said the Humanitarian
Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Edward Kallon, has expressed deep sorrow over
multiple fire outbreaks that devastated the Monguno Waterboard camp for
IDPs in northern Borno State on 14, 15 and 18 April and the
International Secondary School camp on 16 April in Gamboru, Ngala Local
Government Area, Borno State, near the border to Cameroon.
Kallon said: “My heartfelt sympathy goes
to the many vulnerable families who are affected. These are the worst
fire incidents recorded in camps for internally displaced persons in the
North-east so far this year.”
He lamented that at least 14 people lost
their lives in the fire incident in Ngala on April 16, with 15 others
injured while seven are still treated in a clinic run by aid
organisations.
He also said that over 300 shelters were
damaged, and a communal shelter hosting 11 families were burnt down
with more than 8,000 people already displaced by the ongoing Boko Haram
crisis once again losing their belongings and shelters.
He noted that aid workers are now
working around the clock to mobilise support such as food, shelter and
essential items like mattresses, pots, soap and clothes.
He said on April 18, another fire broke
out in the Waterboard camp in Monguno Local Government Area, which is
the third such incident recorded in the camp in a week, revealing that
the initial assessment indicated that 100 shelters were entirely burnt
down.
Kallon said: “These tragedies come
unfortunately among a series of recurring incidents during the dry
season, despite regular awareness-raising efforts made by the
humanitarian community in IDP camps.”
According to him, around 15 fire
outbreaks have been recorded in IDP camps since the beginning of the
year affecting more than 15,000 people, stressing that as recently as
April 14, communities in both Mafa and Monguno Local Government Areas of
Borno State were shocked by massive fires that destroyed at least 200
and 100 shelters, respectively.
He said in Mafa, an elderly person who was sleeping in one of the shelters, was burned alive.
Kallon said the risk of fire outbreaks,
as well as the spread of COVID-19 in IDPs camps in Borno State is
extremely high due to overcrowding with makeshift and temporary shelters
built too closely together.
He said: “I am concerned that we will
keep witnessing these recurrent tragedies unless we take urgent measures
to jointly address the root cause of the problem.
“With the Coronavirus pendemic slowly
spreading across the country, I am extremely worried about the 1.8
million IDPs in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States and the rest of the
nearly eight million vulnerable people in these conflict-affected
states. Camp decongestion has been a challenge, but it is now a
priority. I call on all stakeholders to urgently contribute to efforts
being made to decongest camps in respect of people’s rights and
dignity.”
He revealed that together with the state
and federal authorities, UN and INGOs are working on an expansion of
the IDP camps to mitigate the risk of fire incidents and the rapid
spread of diseases like the Coronavirus pendemic.
He said: “One in two camps in Borno
State are currently overcrowded with nearly 700,000 vulnerable IDPs
living in such conditions.
“I have to commend the engagement of Borno State authorities and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs on this issue.
“It is our duty to do our utmost to
protect the most vulnerable from another tragedy, whether it is a fire
or the Coronavirus pendemic.”
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