'We are not in haste to return home,' IDPs say

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Pompomari, Kukareta and Muhammadu Gombe IDP camps in Damaturu, Yobe, on Saturday said they were not in a haste to return home.

Ali Bukar, a displaced person and community leader from Shettiram village, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that his people were "comfortable at the camps and, therefore, in no hurry to return home’’.

"We will remain here in the camps until all necessary arrangements have been put in place in terms of security and infrastructure by the authorities before we go back home," Bukar said.

Fanna Modu, a mother of two, said "initially when we arrived Kukareta camp there were some challenges and we were desperate to return home.

"The state government has overcome the challenges by providing us with tents for shelter, adequate feeding, drilled boreholes, toilets, blankets and sanitary kits for women, thereby making us comfortable.

"Recently, over 60 male children, including orphans at the camp were circumcised by the authorities; we are home away from home," Fanna said.

Maimuna Abubakar, a widow said about 10 marriages had so far been consummated between widows and widowers and other displaced persons in the various IDPs camps.

NAN reports that the ministers of Defence and Interior had separately visited the state to assess the security situation and plan toward the redeployment of civil authorities in the liberated communities preparatory for the relocation of the IDPs.

Meanwhile, the Yobe Government has constituted a Rehabilitation and Relocation Committee for the IDPs under the chairmanship of the state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu.

The committee was mandated to collaborate with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to oversee the welfare of the IDPs and their subsequent relocation to their respective communities whenever the security situation improved.