700 IDPs face eviction from temporary camp

About 700 Internally Displaced Persons squatting at New Kuchingoro near Games village, Abuja, have been asked to vacate their temporary camp by the owner of the land.

The IDPs were given a one-week eviction notice by the land owner who had commenced the fencing of the land where the people have been staying for the past two years.

The displaced persons mainly from Gwoza, Borno State, moved to the camp after Boko Haram gunmen attacked their community and killed some of their relatives and parents.

Leader of the displaced persons, Usman Adamu, told The Punch that they have been asked to vacate the land where they built temporary lodgings with straws.

Adamu explained that the owner of the land, whose identity could not be ascertained, sent his agent to tell the people to leave his land within one week.

“The landlord’s agent came last week Wednesday and he gave us one week to leave his land. Some people have started packing their belongings and leaving but most of us don’t have anywhere to go; we are stranded here, but we are thinking of relocating close to the river and putting up our bachas there,” he said.

Innocent Iduh, 34, who was observed dismantling the structure where he used to live, said the eviction notice expires on Thursday, adding that the move of the land owner to reclaim the land has rendered him homeless again.

He said, “I have lived most of my life in Gwoza but I was forced to come to Abuja when Boko Haram attacked the town. I came to this camp last year and I’m preparing to get married and settle down, but the landlord’s agent came last week to tell us to vacate this place within one week. Now, I don’t know where to go, the government should come to our aid.”

Our correspondent observed that some of the structures at the camp  had  been pulled down and some belongings packed under trees by their owners.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration had earlier said it would build a permanent camp for displaced persons in Abuja to resettle 4,780 IDPs in different parts of the FCT.

The Director-General, FCT Emergency Management Agency, Alhaji Abass Idriss, said that the agency would resettle the IDPs at a camp in Kuje, Abuja.