From Juliana Taiwo- Obalonye, Abuja
BORNO Governor, Kashim Shettima was at the Presidential Villa in what was believed to be in connection with reported cases of malnourished children and deaths of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in government camps in the state.
Doctors Without Borders, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international humanitarian aid organisation had, last week, released a statement alongside photographs stating that about 24,000 IDPs were in dire health situation with, at least, 30 people, mostly children, dying every day.
President Muhammadu Buhari was said to be angry with the report and wondered why, after billions of naira from government, as well as donor agencies and philanthropists, the situation was that dire.
Shettima, who was accompanied by officials of the state, emerged from the office of the Chief of Staff after the meeting.
He, however, declined to take questions from State House Correspondents who approached him for comments on the allegations and why he was at the Presidential Villa. He simply said: “This was a private visit.”
Shettima had alleged that some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were taking huge advantage of the pains of IDPs in the state and defrauding foreign philanthropists under the guise of trying to help victims of the Boko Haram insurgency.
The governor paid a visit to Bama camp upon receiving reports that hundreds of malnourished persons recently rescued from Boko Haram captivity, were dying in a camp in Bama, 75 kilomtres from Maiduguri, the state capital.
He ordered the relocation of 61 children with acute condition of malnutrition to the intensive care unit of the Umaru Shehu Ultramodern Hospital, in Maiduguri.
Another set of over 400 persons with lesser cases of malnourishment were also moved out of the camp to a special care unit for proper feeding and medication.