One life was lost while two other people sustained various degrees of injuries when fire on Wednesday razed down 620 houses at Custom House IDPs Camp in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital .
LEADERSHIP gathered that the fire outbreak, which started around 8:30 in the morning, destroyed parts of the camp and was eventually put out by the combined efforts of the IDPs, security agents and officials of the federal and state fire services.
Four hours later, another fire broke out in another part of camp, destroying many of the makeshift tents.
Some IDPs were, however, able to pick up pieces of their remaining property.
Speaking in an interview, the camp manager of Custom House, Usman Mohammed, said the cause of the fire was not yet known, adding that investigation had commenced to find out the actual cause of the fire incident.
He said the affected IDPs are from Dikwa local government and currently in dire need of assistance.
When contacted, acting zonal coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ishaya Chinoko, said emergency response had been dispatched and initial needs assessment conducted.
He added that relief would soon be provided to the affected victims.
Our correspondent reports that the burnt Custom House camp has a total of 14,250 displaced persons from three local government areas of Dikwa, Mafa and Bama.