The Governor of Borno State has discovered “650 ghost households” during his recent visit to an internally displaced persons’ camp in Borno State.
The camp is located at Mohammed Goni College of Islamic Legal Studies in Maiduguri.
According to a statement on the Facebook page of Governor Zulum, 650 households out of 1,000 at the camp are ‘fake’ as they only show up during the when food is being shared and then leave for their homes.
To fish-out fake IDPs, @ProfZulum storms camp midnight for headcountÂ
… Discovers 650 ghost households https://t.co/jAkZAwWdjq pic.twitter.com/hyRFY0cVAP
— Governor Borno (@GovBorno) March 7, 2021
The statement said the “ghost households” have been short-changing the genuine IDPs at the camp.
The statement read, “Around midnight on Sunday, Borno Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum showed up at Mohammed Goni College of Islamic Legal Studies in Maiduguri, where internally displaced persons from Abadam Local Government Area of northern Borno were being camped.
“Zulum immediately sealed the entrance and supervised a headcount to identify actual IDPs, in order to put a stop to rampant cases of dubious residents pretending to be displaced, who spend day times at IDP camps to share food meant for IDPs, and towards the night, they return to their homes to sleep, with some of benefiting from other means through which the state distributes food to vulnerable non IDPs in communities.
“450 households were found to be real IDPs after Zulum’s midnight headcount which was conducted by the governor alongside an official of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Air Commodore M. T. Abdullahi, and two commissioners (Agriculture, and Local Government and Emirate Affairs).
“Officials who were part of the midnight headcount said Governor Zulum was not averse to approving support for any citizen who may be vulnerably in need of food since there is a committee doing that, however, the Governor is vehemently opposed to some residents making dubious claims in other to take what is meant for IDPs while also benefiting from other existing welfare activities that target non IDPs.”
