"Four months after authorities evacuated 22,000 people and dismantled its water supply, the Muna displaced persons camp in Maiduguri is a shell of what it once was. But Maryam Suleiman, a 50-year-old widow, has refused to leave. Suleiman and her 12 children still sleep beneath leaking roofs of the camp in Nigeria's northeastern Borno State, even as the structures crumble around them."
"But they're still killing people there. Her hometown of Dongo in the Mafa local government area 49km (30 miles) from Maiduguri is where Boko Haram fighters murdered her two younger brothers in 2014. It is also where the government insists she must return, declaring the area safe from the group that has killed 15,889 people and displaced 3.9 million across northeastern Nigeria."
"Suleiman is among hundreds who refused evacuation when Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum ordered all camps closed in 2023, citing improved security and the need to restore dignity to displaced populations. Yet in May 2025, just months after resettlement began, Boko Haram launched fresh attacks in Marte, killing five soldiers at a military base. Similar incidents followed in Dikwa, Rann, Gajiram, and other safe communities."
Authorities evacuated 22,000 people from Muna camp, dismantled its water supply, and began closing camps across Borno State as part of a resettlement drive. Many displaced people live amid crumbling shelters and leaking roofs, and some, like widow Maryam Suleiman with 12 children, refuse to return to hometowns where Boko Haram killed relatives. State officials, including Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, cite improved security and restoring dignity to justify closures. Violent incidents continued in 2025, including a Marte attack that killed soldiers and forced 20,000 newly resettled residents to flee, while over 90 deaths were reported across the state in recent months.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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