14 killed in fire at Borno IDP camp

At least 14 persons were killed in a fire incident at a camp for displaced persons (IDPs) in Borno State.

Residents of the camp and similar ones in Borno were displaced from their homes by the Boko Haram insurgency which has caused tens of thousands of deaths.

The casualty figure from the fire was announced in a statement by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, Thursday evening.

Mr Shehu said the fire occurred at an IDP camp in Ngala local government of Borno.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday evening described as “extremely horrifying,” the news of the death of 14 persons and injury to many from the fire incident at an IDP camp in Ngala, Borno State.

“Reacting to the sad incident, the President directed the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to investigate and report the circumstances leading to the incident, and advise on how a future occurrence will be averted.

“He further directed that urgently needed assistance be immediately given to the victims, and prayed to Allah to repose the souls of those whose lives were lost, and the quick recovery of the injured persons,” Mr Shehu wrote.

Details of the fire incident at Ngala was still sketchy at press time.

However, two days earlier, on Tuesday, there was a fire incident at an IDP camp in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno.

Mafa and Ngala are separate local governments in Borno.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how no fewer than 700 shelters were destroyed by fire at the IDP camp in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State.

The Secretary of the local government, Mohammed Lawan-Sheriff, provided information on the accident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Maiduguri.

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Mr Lawan-Sheriff said that dozens of households in the camps were displaced during the fire outbreak, which started at about 11 a.m. on Tuesday and lasted for several hours.

He said the fire incident, which began from a tent, gutted other shelters because there was no immediate fire service response in the camps at the time of the incident.

He said the combined efforts of the IDPs, Civilian Joint Task Force, security agencies and other good Samaritans brought the situation under control.

“Immediately, we heard about the incident, we quickly mobilised the host community and rushed to the scene to put out the fire. So far, no death was recorded,” he said.

The secretary explained that the council and other partners were working to address the humanitarian situation at the camps.

“We have asked the 11 camp managers to assess the level of damage and do the head count to ensure that everyone is safe, while an ambulance was placed on standby to evacuate any injured persons,” he said.

The Mafa IDP camp houses about 4,782 households, mostly women, children and the elderly.