Fire guts Maiduguri IDPs camp, destroys 200 houses

Shehu Abubakar, Maiduguri

Late morning fire on Monday, February 6, burnt down about 200 houses at the unofficial section of Muna IDPs camp at the outskirts of Maiduguri metropolis.
Eyewitnesses could not ascertain the cause of the fire. They, however, said it flared up by 11am and swept across all the thatched houses.
The population of the IDPs affected cannot also be immediately ascertained, due to the fact that it is an unofficial camp.
“I lost everything comprising all my three rooms, wearing apparels, beds and beddings, and one sack of guinea corn,” Modu Maina, 70, who hails from Bale in Mafa Local Government Area, and has two wives and three children, told Peoples Daily.
He estimated the cost of his property lost to the fire at over N100,000.
“My two rooms, beddings and all food items were all burnt down,” Gubo Lawan, 60, who has a wife and six children, said. He could not, however, estimate the cost of his losses.
“My three rooms, two sacks of maize and two grinding machines were all lost to the fire,” Modu Malam Aja, 65, who has one wife and eight children, told Peoples Daily.
Aja estimated the cost of his property lost to fire at N300,000, including the two grinding machines each of which, he said, cost N50,000.
The fire, according to eye witnesses, flared up at about 11am and lasted for about 15 minutes, with the aid of cold season wind.
No SEMA or NEMA official would comment on the incident due to the fact that it is an unofficial camp.