Nigeria: No Camps for Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria's Imo State, Says State Government Amid Claims of 'Islamisation'

22 October 2024
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Catherine Adeniyi

No camps for internally displaced persons in Nigeria's Imo state, says state government amid claims of 'Islamisation'

IN SHORT: The Imo state government has denied claims that the Nigerian government has set up camps for displaced people in the state, saying they are skills training centres.

Since 2009, the militant group Boko Haram has caused significant loss of life, destruction and widespread displacement in northern Nigeria through a series of terrorist attacks.

Many people have fled their homes, and a large number of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps have been set up across the region to support the affected communities.

But some online posts claim the Nigerian government has set up IDP camps in Ehime Mbano, a local government area in Imo state. Imo, in south-eastern Nigeria, is inhabited mainly by the Igbo community and Christians.

Some of the posts suggest that the government is seeking to Islamise the south-east of the country and are urging Igbos to resist this agenda.

One of the posts reads: "Say No To IDP Training Camp In Imo ... Hope Uzodimma Stop Bringing counter productivity to Imo state..... We Don't Need Your IDP Camp In Imo. Take It to The North!!!!!"

Hope Uzodinma is the governor of the state.

The same claim appeared on Facebook here, here and here. (Note: See other instances of the claim at the end of this report).

But did the government establish an IDP camp in Imo state? We checked.

Training camp, not IDP camp, established in Imo

Declan Emelumba told the media that the building referred to in the Facebook posts as an IDP camp was a skills acquisition training centre for south-easterners. Emelumba is Imo state's commissioner of information, publicity and strategic affairs.

"The training centre at Ehime Mbano was the South East's slot, as other geo-political zones received their slots and would train their people accordingly," he was quoted as saying.

He urged the state's residents to disregard the fake news, adding that there was never any plan to bring refugees from the North or West Nigeria to train in Imo.

The Nigerian government has not resettled IDPs from the north or established camps for victims of Boko Haram attacks elsewhere. Most IDP camps are located in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, which are heavily affected by the insurgency.

The false claim can also be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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