Over 550 fake Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have been identified at the Mohammed Goni College of Islamic Legal Studies camp in Maiduguri, Borno state, after a head count was conducted.
The State Governor, Babagana Zulum, had visited the camp at about midnight on Sunday and ordered a head count to identify actual IDPs.
It was discovered that out of the 1,000 IDP households on record, only 450 were genuine IDPs, while the remaining 550 were ‘ghosts’.
This was revealed in a statement by Malam Isa Gusau, the Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy to the Governor, on Sunday in Maiduguri.
Gusau said, “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 the 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.
“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.”
