Nigeria: Borno state to close internally displaced persons camps

Nigeria’s Borno state is planning to close all internally displaced persons camps by May 2017.

Seven years of conflict have devastated the North east of Nigeria and officials of Borno state targeted by Islamist insurgency say very soon hundreds of displaced persons will return to their homes. “The camps are pregnant with a lot of challenges. We have issues of early child marriages, prostitution, challenges of drugs abuse, gangstarism in the camps. If we allow these camps to become entrenched we’ll have another Calais in our own hands. We’ll have another Dadaab refugee crisis in our own hands,” Borno state Governor,” Shettima Kashim said.

Unfortunate incidents have been happening in displaced persons camps in Nigeria.

The return of displaced persons to their homes has also been made difficult by continuous attacks by Boko Haram terrorists.