Cameroonian and Nigerian authorities have ordered 40,000 refugees in Cameroon to return to northeast Nigeria, aid agency Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of people fled the town of Rann in northeast Nigeria after Islamist insurgents attacked last month.

“Today we are seeing people packing up their belongings and leaving for Rann after being told by Cameroonian and Nigerian authorities to leave,” MSF said in a statement, adding it was very concerned over their possible fate due to continuing insecurity in Rann and a lack of humanitarian assistance.

Rann was a theatre of war during which scores of people were killed in the fatal exchange of fire between Boko Haram sect and the Nigerians troops. The insurgents were later chased away by the gallantry of Nigerian troops.

The relative peace that has returned to the community has motivated the Nigerian authorities to ask the fleeing residents to return to the original home.