At least 6 million Nigerians affected by the extremist insurgency in northeast Nigeria need $1.3 billion in aid this year, according to the UN office in Nigeria.
The UN humanitarian response plan for 2023 released on Thursday noted the need for “critical life-saving assistance” as a result of more than 12 years of extremist violence that has killed an estimated 35,000 people and displaced at least 2 million in the region.
“An estimated 2.4 million people are in great need and require urgent support,” said Matthias Schmale, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Nigeria. “The large-scale humanitarian and protection crisis shows no signs of abating.”
More than 80% of those in need in northeast Nigeria are women and children, according to the UN
“The time bomb of child malnutrition is increasing in northeastern Nigeria, with the number of children suffering from acute malnutrition projected to rise to 2 million by 2023,” he said.
NIGERIANS ARE GETTING HEALTH INSURANCE BY EXCHANGING WASTE MATERIAL
The United Nations said Nigerians have been hit by extremist violence and need $1.3 billion. (FoxNews)
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The plea for help for hungry and displaced people comes just as Africa’s most populous country of 214 million people prepares for its presidential election on February 25. The humanitarian crisis could further affect many in Nigeria, which has an unemployment rate of 33%. and 63% of the people are in poverty.
Boko Haram, Nigeria’s local Islamic extremist rebels, launched an insurgency in 2009 to fight Western education and establish Islamic Shariah law in the northeast of the country.
His rebellion has spread over the years to the neighboring West African countries of Cameroon, Niger and Chad. A splinter faction of the group, known as the West African Province of Islamic State, has risen to prominence, dominating the Lake Chad region, where security force convoys and outposts often attack.
Some humanitarian needs of affected people are “deepening and increasing”, particularly those related to food insecurity and malnutrition, the UN said, citing the situation in Bama, Borno state, where at least 4,000 people could die, pass starve or suffer acute malnutrition if donors and authorities do not act quickly.
