15:34At least five people have died, including a young girl, and several others were injured in a stampede when government officials in north-east Nigeria distributed cash and clothes to thousands of desperate people displaced by jihadist violence. Around 70,000 people live in displacement camps in Borno state’s Gamboru, a town near the Cameroonian border. This morning, as a government convoy was handing out money and garments, mainly to women and children in Gamboru, a stampede for the aid was created, killing four women and a young girl, local hospital officials said. Local civilian militias, engaged in the conflict with jihadist groups, told AFP the death toll was higher, with more than 12 women and children losing their lives. A decade since Boko Haram’s insurgency in north-east Nigeria began, the conflict continues to rage, with almost 2 million people displaced from their homes and reliant on support from the government and aid groups.

Source: The Guardian April 18, 2020 00:41 UTC