On paper, the Nigerian government claims to have built and commissioned a school for children of internally displaced persons in Abuja’s Durumi IDP Area 1 camp. On airwaves and social media, officials have paraded neatly dressed students, showcased classrooms, and declared their commitment to IDP’s welfare.
But an in-depth investigation by Africa Health Report (AHR’s) Gom Mirian, reveals that the purported school exists only on the social media space, as part of government’s propaganda mill. Instead, a controversial makeshift bamboo structure erected in the camp serves as a school. This is our first discovery in attempts to unravel the truth about the alleged extortions of pupils and students.
At the Durumi IDP camp, which houses over 3, 830 displaced persons from conflict-ridden regions, instead of the classrooms filled with learning children, the reality at the camp paints a grim picture, thousands of children of school age wander about, searching for food and other basics for survival. Learning and education are not in their menu.
Second discovery: Even more alarming, government officials have accused camp leaders of hoarding food and non-food relief materials meant for IDPs. Yet, upon closer inspection, AHR found that these so-called hidden supplies were nothing more than animal feed and insufficiently donated mattresses.
The question remains: was the school project an elaborate political stunt? Another question: why is the government shifting blames to IDP leaders while aid remains scarce?
The School That Never Was
Arriving at the Durumi IDP camp penultimate Monday morning, our correspondent observed some young children—some barefooted, others clutching plastic bowls—moving aimlessly around in the camp. If a school had indeed been commissioned here, then, why were these children of school age not in classes?
Rashada, a 28-year-old woman who lives near the camp, confirmed that she had been following up on a promised employment opportunity in the school for over a year.
But when asked if she was an IDP, Rashada quickly shook her shoulders in disagreement saying, “I have been coming here since last year when the government came and commissioned the school. They said they were going to build classroom blocks and employ teachers, but nothing has happened since then,” she told AHR.
When asked about the commissioning, she laughed dryly. “It seems nothing like that is happening here anymore.”
Instead of a functional school, AHR found a makeshift bamboo structure, a multipurpose hall that government officials previously paraded as part of their educational intervention for children in the IDP camp. But at the time of the visit the makeshift structure was occupied by the brightlife vision foundation, a non-governmental organization that provides skill training for the displaced persons.
But Umar Gola, the camp’s Public Relations Officer, explained how a non-governmental organization, Brightlife Vision Foundation, took over an earlier government project.
“You see that bamboo there? That bamboo structure, the commissioner had initially said, was meant for shelter because the land is not permanent. Later, they came, rented a bed from one woman, an NYSC beneficiary in the camp, bought a bed spread, installed a solar system, and published that this is the kind of development they are bringing. After four or five months, they returned and promised to convert the space into classrooms. The same commissioner then went on air, falsely claiming the government had built a school for us.
“Next thing we heard, the government went on air claiming that they had built a school here. Meanwhile, our own children are out on the streets with no classrooms to attend,” Gola said.
Gola further explained, “Suddenly the foundation’s founder, Hajia Binta Sidi, came asking who owns the bamboo structure she would like to use for a computer training, and we told her the commission had supposedly built the structure for schooling, and she said she has a connection with the commission and left. After a while she came back and opened the computer centre which brought the commissioner here that day to commission the same building that he went to publish that we hide relief aid materials in classrooms.”
A Fake Commissioning and Fake Students
Beyond the misrepresented school project, AHR discovered another shocking revelation.
Government officials had allegedly ‘imported’ neatly dressed children from outside the camp to give the impression they are students, for the staged commissioning event.
“They brought children from outside, made them wear uniforms, and presented them as our students. Our own children were left out,” Gola lamented.
This revelation aligns with testimonies from various camp residents who insist that the only functional educational support in the camp is by the interventions of non-governmental organizations and individual philanthropists.
Gola went on, “The government didn’t build any school for our children”.
Hoarded Relief Materials or Government Misinformation?
Days after the supposed school commissioning, the Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRMIDP), Aliyu Ahmed, accused IDP camp leaders of hoarding food supplies meant for the displaced persons.
“On our arrival, we saw a situation where some of the classrooms were used to keep food and non-food items that were supposed to be distributed to IDPs. We will deal with the situation severely,” Ahmed told reporters.
However, when AHR visited the supposed “hidden stockpiles,” the allegations did not add up.
Camp Chairman, Ibrahim Ahmudu led our correspondent into the so-called hidden stockpiles.
“Come, let’s go to the store. It’s better you see for yourself,” he said.
Inside, instead of hidden food supplies meant for the displaced persons, there were sacks filled with bean husks—animal feed, not human food.
“These bags contain animal feed. They are not food for people. Feel them for yourself,” Ahmudu said while pressing the sacks.
In another storage room, stacks of mattresses were piled against the walls.
“These mattresses were donated by a kind-hearted individual, but they are not enough for the 360 families here. That is why we haven’t distributed them yet. But whenever we receive enough to go around, we share and document everything,” he explained.
Adding to what the chairman has said concerning the hoarding of relief materials meant for the Internally Displaced Persons as alleged by the government, Mr. Gola explained,
“He came and complained about the tables we are giving women for Islamic recitation and the mattresses. These sewing machines were donated by an Igbo woman who wanted to help us empower 79 women in the camp. However, among the containers she brought, some machines were missing their sewing heads. She asked us to keep the frames, and we have stored them here for over four years now. The day the commissioner came, these were the items he saw, yet he went and published different things in the news.”
Three Government Aid? Just Three Times in 12 Years
Despite grand claims of interventions, AHR found that the federal government has provided aid to Durumi IDP camp only three times in over a decade.
“Since we have been in this place, the federal government has officially provided aid materials only three times in 12 years,” Gola lamented. “Even during the heat of Boko Haram, we didn’t lose members like now in camp, during COVID-19 alone we lost over 16 members due to hunger, poverty and sickness.”
Maru Musa, a mother of 11 and a women’s leader at the camp, who originally hails from Borno State corroborated this.
“The only time we get food is when kind Nigerians bring donations. The government brings nothing. Yet they say we are hiding food. How can we hide what we never received?” she asked. “I have been here for ten years now, we have never been denied access to food stuff brought here, once they come whether it is a bag or twenty, chairman will share according to families except they don’t come.”
The Reality of Life in the Camp
Beyond the controversy of the fake school and alleged aid hoarding, life in Durumi IDP camp remains dire.
“We are sitting on a time bomb ready to explode one day, you see these boys from 15 years down there are over 1,500 in camp here doing nothing, they are just roaming about which is another threat to security.
“They announced every day we should relocate to places they want us to stay but those are not secured, people don’t even live in those places when there was peace, they can’t go there without caches of security personnel,” he said.
Speaking further on new camps the government wants them to relocate to Gola said security in the region is almost non-existent. According to him, a recent attack near the camp left several soldiers dead and their weapons stolen.
“If you walk two kilometres outside the camp, you are either a dead body or taken away,” he said grimly.
Medical care is another crisis here. The camp’s only clinic has been shut for months due to a lack of medication.
“When our children fall sick, if you don’t have money, you take them to a chemist or use herbs. The government provides nothing,” said another mother, Esther Tanko.
A Housing Project That Benefits Only Six People?
Despite the government’s claim that the Abuja-based IDPs would receive housing, the numbers don’t add up.
“They say we are 38,000, but in reality, we are over 60,000. Yet they asked us to submit just 10 names for housing. In the end, only six people from this camp will get houses,” Gola explained.
The government built only 20 houses for Abuja- based internally displaced persons, an insignificant number compared to the population in need.
“They will announce publicly that they gave us houses, but how do 20 houses solve a crisis affecting over 60,000 people?” Gola asked.
Government’s Silent on Investigation Into ‘Hoarded’ Relief Materials
In an effort to get a response from the Refugees Commissioner regarding the alleged hoarding of relief materials, AHR reached out to the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRMIDP).
However, all contact numbers listed on the commission’s website were unresponsive. Emails went unanswered. Weeks after making damning allegations against Durumi IDP leaders, the government has provided no update on its so-called investigation.
Deception, Neglect, and Political Propaganda
The AHR investigation has exposed a disturbing pattern—government officials staging projects for political gain while neglecting the real needs of displaced Nigerians.
The supposed school in Durumi IDP camp exists only in government propaganda. The alleged food hoarding is a false accusation based on misinformation. Medical services are absent, and the few government-built houses are barely a drop in the ocean of need.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of displaced Nigerians remain trapped in poverty and insecurity, abandoned by the very government that claims to serve them.
The question remains—will the authorities be held accountable for these falsehoods? Or will IDPs continue to suffer while officials craft new narratives for political convenience?
For now, the reality in Durumi speaks louder than any government statement.
