No fewer than 14 persons were burnt to death with 1,250 shelters destroyed in a fire outbreak in Internally Displaced Persons camp in Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State.
Zainab Gimba, representing Bama/Ngala/Kalabalge Constituency of Borno State, made this disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Maiduguri on Thursday.
Gimba said 15 persons sustained various degrees of injuries, while property, including food stuffs, were destroyed by the Thursday inferno.
She said dozens of households in the camps were displaced during the fire outbreak, which gutted almost half of the shelters at the camp.
The lawmaker said the incident had further compounded the plight of the IDPs.
Gimba said: “I wish to sincerely sympathise with the victims of today’s fire disaster.
“I am deeply shocked and touched.
“For those that lost their loved ones, please accept my heartfelt condolences, for those that sustained injuries, I wish them quick recovery.
“I am also mindful of the fact that the next few weeks will be difficult because it is not easy to be an IDP and homeless at the same time, but very soon Insha Allah, I will send relief materials to cushion the hardships.”
Gimba appealed to the North East Development Commission, Borno State Emergency Management Agency, National Emergency Management Agency and United Nations humanitarian organisations to come to the aid of the displaced victims.
When contacted, Hajiya Yabawa Kolo, Chairperson of SEMA, described the incident as “unfortunate”, noting that it came at a time when the state was faced with another humanitarian challenge of preventing COVID-19.
Kolo said a team of the agency would conduct on the spot assessment to ascertain the level of damages incurred as a result of the fire incident with a view to providing immediate humanitarian support to the affected victims.
She said the agency would adopt proactive modalities to prevent future recurrence of the incident.
NAN recalled that a similar incident occurred less than 24 hours when fire destroyed 700 shelters and rendered thousands of IDPs homeless at a camp in Mafa Local Government Area in the state.
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