Crisis in N’east will worsen without urgent help, UN warns

THE United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA) has expressed worry over the welfare of millions of women and children in North East Nigeria affected by protracted armed conflict, even as the country enters the lean season.

The UN body revealed that over eight million people are in need of assistance in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe ( BAY) states, and that an estimated 600,000 face emergency levels of food insecurity because of violence around the Lake Chad region, now in its 12th year.

The acting UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, while briefing member states in Geneva on the situation in the North East, called on the international community to get resources to aid most vulnerable children, who face food insecurity.

According to him, although previously dominant Boko Haram militia have been significantly weakened since the group’s leader was killed over a year ago, the terrorists continue to carry out indiscriminate attacks.

Islamic State West Africa Province ( ISWAP) another extremist offshoot, he noted, is also dangerous, even while suffering setbacks.

Schmale stated that, as recorded in previous years, a staggering one million people are also beyond the reach of international aid teams.

“More than 80 per cent of those in need are women and children, who also face abductions, rape and abuse, while indiscriminate attacks in Borno make the state the most ‘ unstable place to be’,” he said.

He told journalists in Geneva that the UN was aiming to support at least 5.5 million of the 8.4 million people in need overall.