President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday evening described as “extremely horrifying,” the news of the death of 14 persons and injury to many from a fire incident at an IDP camp in Ngala, Borno State.
According to reports, the blaze broke out mid-morning in a camp holding some 70,000 people in the town of Gamboru, close to the border with Cameroon.
“We recovered 14 burnt bodies from the gutted shelters and another 15 who sustained varying degrees of burns from the fire,” militia leader said.
More than 200 shelters were destroyed, rendering 1,250 people homeless, said a rescue official, who asked not to be named.
“The fire killed 14 people, six from the same family, and left 15 with injuries, seven of them critically,” said the official.
It was not clear what caused the fire but residents blamed it on arson after a suspect was arrested with a lighter in his pocket, another militia member Shehu Mada said.
The decade-long Boko Haram conflict has killed 36,000 people and forced 1.8 million from their homes in northeast Nigeria.
Reacting to the sad incident, the President directed the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to investigate and report the circumstances leading to the incident, and advise on how a future occurrence will be averted.
He further directed that urgently needed assistance be immediately given to the victims, and prayed to Allah to repose the souls of those whose lives were lost, and the quick recovery of the injured persons.