Born IDP camp fire: 1200 tents burnt, 7200 rendered homeless

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A total of 1,200 tents were burned in the fire which occurred at the camp of internally displaced persons in Gajiram village in Borno State last week, destroyed 1200 tents and left at least 7,200 people without shelter, Yabawa Kolo, an official of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

The camp includes those who escaped the violence of the Boko Haram armed group.

Kolo said the government sent humanitarian aid to the camp’s residents.

Five children were killed and 7,457 people lost their tents in a fire last year at a refugee camp in Borno state, reported Anadolu Agency.

Armed groups have forced more than two million people to flee their homes since 2009 when Boko Haram began an armed campaign. Some 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict and millions forced from their homes.

Most of the displaced have been housed into squalid camps where they depend on food handouts from international charities.

Scores of civilians are still trapped in remote communities and are unable to flee because of a lack of security on roads.

The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a military response.