The International Organisation for Migration, IOM, has helped relocate 189 displaced families from Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, camps located in schools in Borno State, as part of efforts by the state government to reopen educational institutions in the state.

The Boko Haram insurgency has led to the closure of schools in the state for over a year, a situation that also led to the premises of the schools being taken over by displaced persons from all over the North east.

However, early in the year, with some let off in the terrorist attacks, the Borno State government began a process of relocating the displaced persons from the schools with the aim of reopening them to students by April.

A statement released on Friday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, said that the international body had helped with the relocation 189 families from a school to Bakasi camp in the city. A total of 225 shelters were constructed at the Bakassi camp in Maiduguri for the IDPs.

Each family, it said, “was provided with a newly built shelter by IOM along with a non-food item (NFI) package.”

IOM’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Richard Danziger, who visited the relocated displaced persons, reassured them of the organisation’s commitment to providing them with shelter and non-food items.

“Providing assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the North-eastern part of Nigeria is imperative as a first step toward long-term stability in Northern Nigeria and the entire Lake Chad sub region,” he stated

The Permanent Secretary in the Borno State Ministry of Education who doubles as the secretary to the relocation committee, Justus Zare, explained that efforts are being made to improve the situation of the camp.

“Shelters are being provided, drilling for water is completed, solar panels are installed and we are happy with IOM and other partners for assisting us,” he said.

The IOM statement said that the organisation is also conducting baseline assessments and registration for IDPs living in camps and host communities under the Displacement Tracking Matrix project in addition to providing psychosocial services and medical referrals for those who need them.

The IOM says it requires USD 15 million to continue to do its work in the North east, including providing shelter support, displacement tracking and biometric registration, camp management and camp coordination and psycho-social support for IDPs.