"We are not going to stay here," one of them, Musa Kolomi said. "Why are we being treated like animals in our own country? The Federal Government should call the Army to order. They came and said we were harbouring Boko Haram in Jakana but we told them that we did not have any Boko Haram member in our midst. The next thing, they came back with trucks and forced us to come here; this is not acceptable. We were not allowed to come along with any of belonging."
Not fewer than 5,000 residents of Jakana town in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State were forcefully ejected from their home on Monday night, security and residents have told SaharaReporters.
According to an emergency aid worker, dozens of trucks started arriving Bakassi IDP camp at about 11:30pm on Monday bearing people from Jakana although there was no evacuation plan on ground at all.
Astonished and unable to fathom the reason for the military evacuation, residents protested that they would not stay in the camp.
A SaharaReporters correspondent visited the camp but was barred from enetery by soldiers and mobile police stationed at the entrance.
Women and children were seen seated on the ground under the sun, crying, while military patrol vehcles were stationed near them.
"We are not going to stay here," one of them, Musa Kolomi said. "Why are we being treated like animals in our own country? The Federal Government should call the Army to order.
"They came and said we were harbouring Boko Haram in Jakana but we told them that we did not have any Boko Haram member in our midst. The next thing, they came back with trucks and forced us to come here; this is not acceptable. We were not allowed to come along with any of belonging."
A military source told SaharaReporters that the evacuation was done in the overall intrest of the villagers.
"We have reliable information that they shelter terrorists. We had told them that they should surrender the suspects but they refused; also, there is intelligence report that terrorists are planning to attack that axiz. So, the evacuation was done for security reasons," the source said.
Both state and national emergency staff were allow to go into the camp to register the Jakana residents.
Abdulkadir Ibrahim, Informarion Officer of the northeast zonal office of the National Emergency management Agency (NEMA), said confirmed on Tuesday morning that "residents from jakana town of konduga local Government Area, situated along the Maiduguri Damaturu Highway, have been evacuated to Bakassi IDP Camp in Maiduguri by the military for their safety as a result of ongoing operations to flush out insurgents in the area".
He added that "camp management officials consisting various stakeholders in humanitarian response are mobilising resources to cater for their basic needs after registration and profiling".