A fire disaster has destroyed about 20 tents and displaced about 100 residents of Rundaben-Shuwa Arab, an internally displaced persons camp on the outskirts of Bauchi metropolis.

LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that the fire, the cause of which was yet to be ascertained, broke out when most male residents were offering Friday prayers away in Bauchi city centre.

The camp, established by a philanthropist, accommodates IDPs uprooted from their ancestral homes by the Boko Haram insurgency.

Similarly, the fire destroyed food items stacked in stores.

Speaking with our correspondent, the leader of the camp, Buba Musa Shehu, said efforts to put out the fire were unsuccessful because houses in the community were mostly made of thatch and stalks of corn.

He appealed to the Bauchi State government and North East Development Commission (NEDC) to provide them with relief materials to reduce the hardship being experienced by the victims.