Insecurity fuels hunger, malnutrition among IDPs in Lake Chad region
By Njadvara MUSA, Maiduguri
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) has said that insecurity fuels ‘hunger and malnutrition’ among displaced persons in the Lake Chad region.
The region comprises Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria with the setup of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) in 2016 to fight insurgency.
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OCHA raised the alarm Wednesday in a snapshot made available to journalists in Maiduguri, Borno state capital.
According to the snapshot; “About 2.8 million people were displaced from the four countries during the 12-year insurgency that claimed many lives and property.”
It disclosed that 10.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, as hunger continues to loom among children in the insurgency affected countries.
In the Northeast of Nigeria, the over a decade conflict has killed over 40, 000 people with destruction worth about $9.2 billion (N3.42 trillion) in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
Besides the displacements, OCHA lamented that 400, 000 children are currently suffering from severe acute malnutrition in internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps and host communities in the region.
It therefore warned that; “The recent ban on the distribution of food and non-food items in resettled communities by the State Government could trigger hunger among the displaced persons.”
Meanwhile, some of the 7, 911 IDP returnees; are gripped with fears to return to their communities in Abadam, Monguno, Marte and Guzamala local Councils.
The returnees comprising about 70 percent of women and children lamented that they could not travel a kilometre from the local council headquarters.
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“Our wives cannot even fetch and draw firewood and water since we were relocated from Bakkasi camp to Gwoza,” said Ibrahim Buba, while lamenting the insecurity of the communities.
He said the border communities of Ashgashiya, Kirawa, Agapalawa, Attagara, Dikwa, Gambouru and Khuhum with Cameroon are yet to be secured by the military.
