President Buhari Condoles With Families of 14 IDPs Killed in Ngala, Mafa IDPs Camp Fire Disater
A statement issued Thursday evening by Garba Shehu, Special Assistant to the Preiident on Media and Publicity said the fire occurred at the IDP camp at Ngala local Government of Borno state .
He said President Muhammadu Buhari described as “extremely horrifying,” the news of the death of 14 persons and injury to many from the fire incident at IDP camp in Ngala, Borno State.
“Reacting to the sad incident, the President directed the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to investigate and report the circumstances leading to the incident, and advise on how a future occurrence will be averted.
The statement also directed that urgently needed assistance be immediately given to the victims, and prayed to Allah for repose of the souls of those whose lives were lost, and the quick recovery of the injured persons.
However the details of the fire incident in Ngala was still scanty but it was also gathered that on Tuesday, there was also a fire incident at IDPs camp in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno state with sketchy details.
It was learnt that over 700 shades was destroyed by inferno at the IDPs camp in Ngala and Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State.
The Secretary of the Local Government of Mafa LGA , Alhaji Mohammed Lawan-Sheriff, disclosed to newsmen on Tuesday in Maiduguri that many households were affected which prompted Governor Babagama Umara Zulum to visit the scenes of the inferno Friday morning to access the extent of damage and provide some relief materials and other pallaitives to the victims.
Sheriff also added that dozens of households in the camps were displaced during the fire disaster, which started at about 11 a.m. on Tuesday and lasted for several hours.
According to him, the fire outbreak started from a tent within the IDPs camp and gutted other tents as there was no rescue from the fire service at the camp at the time of the inferno in Mafa.
However, Lawan said the combined efforts of the IDPs, Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), security operatives and good samaritans brought the fire under control.
He said,"immediately we heard about the incident, we quickly mobilised the host community and rushed to the scene to put out the fire. So far, no death was recorded".
Despite the fire, the secretary said that the LGC and humanitarian partners were working assiduously to address the humanitarian situation at the IDPs camps.
He said," We have asked the 11 camp managers to assess the level of damage and do the head count to ensure that everyone is safe, while an ambulance was placed on standby to evacuate any injured persons".
It will be recalled that Mafa IDPs camp is one of the largest IDPs camp in the state and accomodates over 4,782 displaced households who are mostly women, children and the adults from Mafa, Dikwa and Konduga LGAs of the state.