No fewer than seven million Nigerians have been displaced and are in need of humanitarian assistance as a result of the protracted activities of the Boko Haram insurgents, in northeastern Nigeria. This was disclosed in a recent report by the UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA, as it prepares to provide life-saving emergency assistance to the “most vulnerable people in conflict-affected areas”. “During 2019, an estimated 7.1 million Nigerians will remain in need of humanitarian assistance in the three north-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, 80 per cent of whom are women and children,” the report reveals. However, of the 7.1 million people in need of aid, “6.2 million will be targeted to receive humanitarian assistance, representing 87 per cent of those in need, compared with 79 per cent targeted in 2018.”The agency budgeted about $847.7 million to meet “critical needs in 2019”. Although deaths from terrorism declined by 16 per cent in 2017, Nigeria is still listed as one of the five countries most impacted by terrorism in the 2018 Global Terrorism Index.

Source: The Guardian January 03, 2019 12:22 UTC