550 fake IDPs uncovered in Maiduguri
By Rasaq Adebayo
No fewer than 550 fake Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have been discovered in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital by the state government after conducting headcount of displaced persons at Mohammed Goni College of Islamic Legal Studies camp in Maiduguri.
This was contained in a statement by Malam Isa Gusau, Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy to Gov. Babagana Zulum on Sunday in Maiduguri.
“At about midnight on Sunday, Gov. Babagana Zulum visited Mohammed Goni College of Islamic Legal Studies in Maiduguri, where Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Abadam were being camped.
“Zulum immediately sealed entrance and supervise a headcount to identify actual IDPs, in order to put a stop to rampant cases of dubious residents pretending to be IDPs, claiming food rations meant displaced persons.
“The governor discovered that out of the 1,000 IDP households in the records of humanitarian officials, only 450 were genuine IDPs, while the rest 550 were ghosts.
“In humanitarian system, a household normally consist of at least six persons who are either related through families, or chosen to stay together for the purpose of receiving household aids,” Gusau said.
According to Gusau, Zulum is not averse to approving support for vulnerable persons in the state.
“Already, there is a committee attending to such people, a case where some residents of Maiduguri are making dubious claims in other to take what is meant for IDPs while also benefiting from other welfare packages targeted at non IDPs is unacceptable,” he said.
