Nigeria's flood survivors say they're being told to go home

Bangkok Post Group

Flood survivors in Nigeria's Maiduguri said the Borno state government ordered a mandatory evacuation for those who received food aid. However, officials denied the claim and said people were free to return voluntarily. - REUTER

Transcript

00:00At a displacement camp in Nigeria's Madaguri, flood survivors are being given bags of rice

00:07and cartons of pasta.

00:10But they say there's a catch.

00:13Isa Musa is a flood survivor who has been in the camp for over a week.

00:20They're saying that when you receive the food parcels, you will have to leave, like you'll

00:26no longer live here in the camp.

00:28The government told us that if they give us food parcels, we will all go back to our houses.

00:34For displaced people here, leaving the camp poses a daunting challenge.

00:39Some communities are still submerged, after the capital of Borno state suffered its worst

00:44flooding in three decades.

00:47That was caused after a dam burst following heavy rains.

00:52In areas where floodwaters have receded, homes like Musa's now lie in ruins.

00:59This is my mother's room, which collapsed, while this belongs to my stepmother.

01:03This is the only room that did not collapse.

01:06Borno state government, however, has denied that people have been told to leave displacement camps.

01:12At a recent press conference, Abdirahman Ahmed Bundi, a special assistant to the Borno state

01:16government on New Media, said people were free to return voluntarily.

01:22But anybody whose community is not yet safe or has nowhere to return can live in the IDP

01:28camp until, you know, an intervention is provided to him and he's habitable to return back.

01:37Bundi did say, however, that the phased closure of the camps would begin soon to allow academic

01:42activities to return to normal.

01:45All schools have been shut since September 10th.

01:50As for Musa, he is now awaiting the government's assessment of the damage to his home.

01:54That will determine the level of aid he receives.

01:58While the floods may have receded for Musa and other survivors, rebuilding their lives

02:02and livelihoods may take much longer.

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