Tag Archives: IDP Camps

Soldiers, policemen arrested for ‘raping, sexually exploiting’ women in IDP camps

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The Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Ibrahim Idris, said two policemen, three army personnel, one prison official, one Air Force personnel, a staff of Borno Ministry for Agriculture and two members of the Civilian JTF have been arrested for sexually abusing women and girls displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.

A report published in Human Rights Watch, in October, detailed how government officials abused and raped women living at IDP camps in Borno State.

The report documented sexual abuse, including rape and exploitation, of 43 women and girls living in seven internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Four of the victims told Human Rights Watch that they were drugged and raped, while 37 were coerced into sex through false marriage promises and material and financial assistance.

President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered the I-G and the affected state governors to investigate the allegation.

Police set up a special panel to investigate the alleged abuses.

Speaking Tuesday at the Inspector-General of Police Conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Mr Idris said police would liaise with the Army and Air Force to make their personnel available for a thorough investigation.

Mr. Idris said after the investigation, any suspects found guilty of the offence would be dismissed and taken to court for prosecution.

“We are going to conduct a thorough investigation and if anyone is found guilty we will dismiss him then take him to court,” he said.

He said the police had put in place some mechanisms, including the deployment of female police officers to IDPs camp, to check future occurrences.

On the Rivers re-run election, Mr. Idris said the police force had begun the deployment of personnel to the state for peaceful and fair election.

He said there was need for collaboration between the police and sister security agencies for the election.

Mr. Idris, who declined to comment on the alleged withdrawal of the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Gov. Nyisom Wike of Rivers, said the police had a good working relationship with all the 36 state governors.

He advised state commissioners of police to ensure that Nigerians were not subjected to hardships on the roads during the Yuletide.

“You should ensure that no hardship is created for citizens of Nigeria, try and ease movements on the roads,” he said.

Borno records 512 new HIV cases in IDP camps

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The Executive Secretary, Borno Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, BOSACA, Barkindo Saidu, says 512 new cases of HIV infections have been recorded in Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camps in the state.

He spoke on Sunday in Maiduguri while briefing journalists.

Mr. Saidu said that the cases were recorded after voluntary screening in some IDP camps in the state.

He pointed out that two out of the 512 persons were children.

“We are currently conducting voluntary screening on HIV/AIDS in IDPs’ camps across the state to determine the status of the people, especially those rescued from the Boko Haram terrorists.

“As at last week, we have recorded 512 positive cases, among which two are children,” Mr. Saidu said.

Officials had earlier said no fewer than 5,000 Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in 27 camps in the state are currently living with the virus.

Mr. Saidu said that the state had witnessed rising cases of the disease due largely to the Boko Haram terrorism.

“Currently, 2.4 per cent of the population of the state are living with HIVand AIDS, which translates to 108,000 persons, going by the record of the National Population Commission.

“But only a tiny portion of these people can access treatment because most anti retroviral centres have closed,” Mr. Saidu said.

He explained that only 32 out of the 90 anti retroviral centres were still operational in the state.

“Before the Boko Haram terrorism, we had 90 treatment centres across the state, but only 32 are still functional today.

“The rest have been closed down due to the Boko Haram terrorism,” Mr. Saidu said.

He called on the Federal Government and donor agencies to intervene in the HIV and AIDS control in the state.

Senate dissatisfied with water, health facilities in Borno, Adamawa IDPs camps.

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The Chairman, Senate Committee on Special Duties, Abdulazeez Nyako, said on Sunday that the lawmakers would view seriously the inadequacy of water and health facilities at the Internally Displaced Persons camps located in Borno and Adamawa States.

In an interview with News Agency of Nigeria in Yola, Nyako said that despite the fund budgeted and allocated specifically for the provision of water and health facilities in the camps, the places were still hit by acute water scarcity and lack of enough health facilities.

He said: “The committee had already visited some major camps in Maiduguri and Yola, where we discovered they are suffering from lack of enough potable water and inadequacy of health facilities.

“We in the National Assembly, the Senate and House of Representatives, budgeted money for water supply and provision of health facilities for various camps in Borno and Adamawa.

“So far, we have not seen the effect.

“We will invite the Ministers of Water Resources and Health to explain what have they done with the fund provided for water supply and provision of health facilities in the camps.”

Nyako said that in the 2016 budget, the Senate allocated N1 billion each for water supply and provision of health facilities in the IDPs camps.

Similarly, another member of the committee, Senator Kabiru Gaya, told NAN that they were not satisfied with the water supply situation and the health facilities in several camps visited in Borno and Adamawa States.

Gaya, representing Kano South Senatorial District, said that the Ministries, Departments and Agencies responsible for the projects would be summoned to appear before the committee.

He said that the MDAs had abandoned their responsibilities, leaving the National Emergency Management Agency to undertake the responsibilities not meant for her.

He therefore praised NEMA for effective humanitarian services and assured that National Assembly would continue to support the agency.

Sexual Abuse: Police Deploy 100 Female Personnel To IDP Camps

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Borno Police Command said, yesterday, it has deployed 100 female police personnel to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in the state following allegation of abuse of women by officials.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), a non-governmental organisation, had alleged abuse of girls and women by camp officials in its latest report.
Some of the abused girls later became prengnat, according to the report.
Commissioner of Police in the state, Damian Chukwu, told the News Agency of Nigeria, in Maiduguri, that his command is taking steps to ensure the protection of IDPs.
Chukwu also said he has also constituted a high-powered committee to oversee running of the camps. “I have constituted a committee, led by the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), with Divisional Police Officers (DPO) and other senior officers, to take over the daily running of the camps.
“It is interesting to say that most members of the committee are female.
“I have also mobilised over 100 women police from different divisions, including mobile police women, to handle day-to-day interaction in the camps.
“Male officers will be limited to handling of the territorial coverage and patrol within the camps,” said Chukwu.
He also added that the objective was to further secure the camps and give confidence to thousands of women in the IDP camps.
“The deployment of women police is also to dig out true happenings in the camps regarding the allegation.
“We feel that the victims might not want to talk freely to men but, they will be encouraged to open up to women policemen if the allegation is true.”
He insisted that prior to the alarm raised by the HRW, the police did not receive any complaint on the alleged abuse.
“We did not receive any complaint on any case of rights abuse in the camps.
“So ,the whole thing appeared strange to me; in each of the camps, we have many police outposts.
“In Bakassi camp (in Cross River State) for instance, we have five police units because every local government area in the IDP camp has its DPO and other policemen, with all the complement of law enforcement,” Chukwu noted.
He, however, said police investigation will unravel the truth of the matter once and for all.

Credit:

http://sunnewsonline.com/sexual-abuse-police-deploy-100-female-personnel-to-idp-camps/

Buhari orders immediate investigation into sexual abuse claims in IDP camps.

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday ordered an immediate investigation into claims of sexual abuse against women and girls in IDP camps.

Buhari who was reacting to a damning report released on Monday by te Human Rights Watch, said anyone found guilt would be decisively dealt with.

The statement read, “Deeply worrying to hear the reports of sexual abuse and exploitation of women and girls by security personnel in IDP camps in the Northeast.

“I have seen the new Humans Rights Watch report, and asked the Inspector-General of Police and concerned State Governors to investigate immediately.

“Let me assure that these very distressing reports will not be taken lightly. We will act decisively on the findings of the investigations.

“We will protect the lives and wellbeing of these most vulnerable of Nigeria’s citizens. And we will ensure they return safely to their homes.”

There have been claims of sexual abuse by camp officials and security agents. Reports ‘uncovered’ a prostitution ring in one of the camps in Borno, a report which was denied by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

EFCC Takes Anti-Corruption Crusade To IDP Camps

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The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu has vowed to ensure transparency and accountability in the use of funds meant for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) especially in Maiduguri, Borno state.
A statement yesterday from EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren said the EFCC chairman said the probe will include all IDP camps in the country, made the declaration yesterday in Maiduguri, while speaking at the newly reopened Zonal office of the Commission.

Uwujaren said the EFCC boss expressed worry about complaints of corruption in IDP Camps, coming from International humanitarian organizations and other civil society organizations that are helping the distressed victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in the city and beyond.
“We want to be sure that there is transparency, accountability and judicious use of the money allocated to Internally Displaced Persons in Maiduguri and elsewhere,” the statement said.

Credit: dailytrust

Food Shortages Drive People In N’East To IDP Camps

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People uprooted by Boko Haram violence in the northeast are leaving host families and moving to camps for the displaced as food becomes increasingly scarce, the European Commission’s humanitarian arm (ECHO) said Wednesday.

Seven million people do not have enough food to eat and almost one-third of them need urgent food aid, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Nine in 10 of Nigeria’s 2.2 million internally displaced people are living with host families in the northeast rather than in camps, amid food shortages that are raising tension in many households, said Thomas Dehermann-Roy, head of ECHO’s Central Africa office.

“It is easier to host your neighbours, friends and family when everything is fine, but when food becomes scarce, tensions are raised,” he said. Around two-thirds of people uprooted by conflict and four in five host families in northeast Nigeria said food was their most pressing and unfulfilled need, according to ECHO.

“Some people are moving to camps as the living situation with host families becomes too harsh – it is a worrying trend and sign of a deteriorating situation,” Dehermann-Roy added.

A regional offensive by Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroun last year drove Boko Haram from much of the territory it held in north eastern Nigeria, undermining its six-year campaign to carve out an Islamic caliphate.
But the militants have since struck back with suicide bombings and hit and run attacks on civilians, threatening livelihoods and hindering aid agencies’ efforts to deliver food.

The amount of land being used to grow food has dropped by almost 70 per cent over the past year as the violence has disrupted farming and driven people off their land, OCHA said.

Credit: Thisday

NDLEA Set To Check Drug Addiction In IDP Camps

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says will evolve proactive methods of checking what it described as drug addiction among the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in various camps.

 

Mr Ona Ogilegwu, the Commander of the agency in Borno, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri on Sunday.

 

He observed more than 2,000 IDPs in Borno camps were chronic addicts of illicit drugs and solicited the inauguration of a committee on drug abuse in camps.

 

According to Ogilegwu, none of the 28 camps in the state capital is free from addiction of Indian hemp, cocaine and diazepam, among other substances.

 

He stressed that the officials of the agency had, on many occasions, intercepted such substances from peddlers that sold them to the IDPs.

 

“The government should set up committee on drug abuse comprising NDLEA, military, State Emergency Management Agency, WHO and psychiatric institutions to handle the menace of drug activities in camps.

“There is an increase in mental disorder cases associated with drug abuse in Federal Neuro- Psychiatric hospitals due to Boko Haram insurgency.

“Setting up of the committee is important as the Borno government will soon start the process of transporting these IDPs back to their homes as part of its rehabilitation, reconstruction and relocation effort.

“They should also set up machineries to check drug addicts among the IDPs so they don’t go back and constitute nuisance.

“Allowing the IDPs to go unchecked is like incubating bunch of addicts into the society; we are mapping out aggressive enlightenment campaigns on how to check drug peddlers and users,’’ he said.

 

NDLEA has, in recent time, expressed concern over illicit drug use in IDPs camps following the arrest of a drug peddler in Dikwa, Borno.

 

The agency arrested a middle aged Baba Haruna, while attempting to sell drugs, including cocaine, to addicts within a camp of IDPs.

 

(NAN)

Saraki Arrives Maiduguri, Expected To Visit IDP Camps

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Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Monday arrived in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, to assess the situation at several Internally Displaced Persons camps across the town and to receive briefing from the military at the forefront of the war against Boko Haram.

He arrived the town in an aircraft 5N-FGV belonging to the Nigerian Air Force at 12:10pm. While in the town, he is expected to visit the Borno State government house, some IDP camps, military facilities,  and the Shehu of Borno.
Credit: punchng