10,000 refugees from Cameroon arrive back in Nigeria

By Olarewaju Kola

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AA) - Over 10,000 Nigerian refugees forced to leave shelter in Cameroon have arrived back in their own country, officials confirmed on Thursday.

The governor of Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State, epicenter of the Boko Haram insurgency, Kashim Shettima, said 10,500 people had arrived back in Nigerian territory.

"Right now 3,500 people have arrived in Pulka while 7,000 people are now in Banki out of the 79,000 people the Cameroon authorities ordered to leave their soil," Shettima said at a meeting with the head of Nigeria’s national emergency management agency.

Over 2.5 million people fled their homes in the volatile northeast in the wake of violence by Boko Haram insurgents between 2012 and 2015.

Some fled to neighboring communities in Cameroon for refuge.

Shettima accused the authorities in Cameroon of failing to honor an agreement with the Nigerian government and the UN on the presence of the refugees.

Borno State shares borders with Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Thousands of Nigerian refugees in Cameroon were ordered to leave the country, amid accusations of Boko Haram infiltration.