Nigerians forced to flee Boko Haram now face another risk — starvation

After being forced to flee their homes, witnessing brutal violence and the destruction of their communities, many in northeastern Nigeria are now facing another pressing risk — severe malnutrition and even starvation.

It's estimated that some 2.6 million people have been made homeless by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, as they waged their seven-year long insurgency. People forced to flee headed in whichever direction was safe at the time.  

Some two million have fled internally within Nigeria, moving to bigger cities in the northeast such as Maiduguri in Borno state or Yola in Adamawa state. Some fled south, or across borders into neighbouring countries.

Most crammed in with family, friends or distant relatives. 

About 10 per cent, including the many unaccompanied children who saw their families slaughtered, have sought refuge in official and unofficial camps for the internally displaced.

Warnings have coming for months, with one aid agency after another expressing concern about the scale of this crisis and looming famine. 

Millions of people in Nigeria need food assistance, the UN says. In Borno state alone, more than 240,000 children under the age of five are facing severe acute malnutrition.

For 65,000 people in the hard-hit north the risk is even greater — famine-like conditions and the risk of death.

Need 'will only increase'

Ghilda Chrabieh, director of humanitarian programs for Mercy Corps in Nigeria, says the situation could be particularly dire in places yet unreachable due to ongoing fighting and insecurity.

"We are projecting that the numbers of people in need will only increase as we start to access those areas."

President Muhammadu Buhari — who didn't mention the looming famine his country faces in a recent speech for Nigeria's Independence Day celebrations —  recently spoke about the scope of the problem that comes with such a massive displacement of people, including many women and children.

"It is weighing heavily on government," Buhari said in a statement, noting that many of the children displaced by conflict and crises don't know their parents or where they come from.

The statement came after a meeting with Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Maurer has described the situation in Nigeria and neighbouring Niger as "a forgotten crisis."

Speaking in an ICRC video released via social media, he said this is "despite the fact that it is one of the largest ICRC operations in the world," adding that "people outside of Niger, outside of the Lake Chad region do not really offer the attention which this conflict deserves."

'Catastrophic' situation for many

The Mercy Corps director says organizations know that "people will need life-saving aid," with food and medical care to deal with malnutrition as a first priority.

"Based on the conditions we've seen as we've gained access, and based on many reports from agencies in locations like Bama, Banki, Konduga and Monguno, we know the situation is catastrophic," Chrabieh says.

Mercy Corps has been working in the town of Damboa, which was repeatedly hit by Boko Haram attacks. In 2014, there were reports that 95 per cent of the town had been destroyed, with burnt bodies left littering the charred remains of the marketplace.

The U.S.-based charity said 97 per cent of people they interviewed in Damboa reported that they were unable to afford to buy any food for the past four weeks.

The Nigerian government continues to tell people who fled the violence that they should return home to liberated towns and villages and rebuild their lives, but Boko Haram is still active in some areas and a feeling of insecurity has kept many away.

And so, hundreds of thousands of displaced people continue to lean on host families, or pour into makeshift camps for the displaced — and resources are being stretched to their limits.  

Basic services such as health care, clean water and sanitation are already poor and there are concerns about the spread of disease.  

Nigeria had gone two years without any reported polio cases but three have now been confirmed in Borno state and with poor drainage and stagnant water during rainy season deaths from malaria and cholera have risen.

This crisis though is not just affecting northeast Nigeria.  Across the borders into Chad, Niger and Cameroon the same scenarios of hunger are being witnessed.

Some aid agencies like UNICEF have already warned that this crisis is now too big for one single government or charity to deal with alone.  

As the country director of Mercy Corps Iveta Ouvry said: "This is not a crisis that will be solved with one silver-bullet solution … Put simply, the world cannot afford to wait another moment to take action."

SOURCE:cbc.ca

75,000 Nigerians could starve to death: UN

 
The UN Children's Fund has delivered a dire warning that 75,000 children in Nigeria will die over the next year.

As many as 75,000 children will die in Nigeria over the next year in famine-like conditions created by Boko Haram if donors don't respond quickly, the UN Children's Fund warns.

The severity of malnutrition levels and high number of children facing death make the humanitarian crisis confronting northeastern Nigeria perhaps the worst in the world, according to Arjan de Wagt, nutrition chief for UNICEF in Nigeria.

Most severely malnourished children die of secondary illnesses like respiratory infections, de Wagt told The Associated Press. "But with famine, you actually die of hunger,'' and that is what is happening, he said.

Severe malnutrition is being found in 20, 30 and even 50 per cent of children in pockets of the region, he said.

UNICEF on Thursday doubled the amount of its appeal for Nigeria, saying $US115 million ($A150 million) is needed to save children whose "lives are literally hanging by a thread.'' Only $US24 million ($A31 million) has been raised so far, the agency said.

The lack of money has meant some 750,000 people living in accessible areas could not be helped this year, spokeswoman Doune Porter told the AP.

Most of the estimated 2.6 million people who fled Boko Haram's insurgency are subsistence farmers who have been unable to plant for two years or more.

SOURCE: AAP

Churches destroyed, Bibles burned: Nigerian church leader on Christians returning home after Boko Haram

For years a key state in Islamist terror group Boko Haram's attempt to create a caliphate, parts of Adamawa state in northeastern Nigeria have now been liberated by government forces. However, as civilians begin returning home, they are finding it difficult to adjust to life after the insurgency.

"Sporadic attacks by Boko Haram continued, but the Christians I met returned home despite the dangers. Worse still, Boko Haram had all but destroyed their villages," church worker Isaac (name has been changed) told World Watch Monitor.

"The first thing I noticed after arriving was the great emotional strain on the returnees. A lucky few were able to reunite with family members, but many widows and orphans experienced afresh what life without their lost loved ones really means."

Isaac said that many Christians were keen to return home after living in camps for displaced people, because some had "faced pressure to convert to Islam just to get food".

"An estimated two million people were displaced by Boko Haram in northern Nigeria and the government wants people to return home because it's unable to provide for so many," he said.

However, the return home has not been easy.

"To have fled violence and returned to ghost-towns was hard on them," Isaac said. "Boko Haram destroyed whole communities – homes, schools, health centers and churches were not spared. They systematically destroyed water pumps and polluted wells by dumping corpses in them.

"Farms that were deserted have led to a shortage of food, and malnutrition – especially among children – is common."

In July, the UN's children's agency, Unicef, warned that nearly a quarter of a million children were suffering from life-threatening malnourishment in Boko Haram's home state of Borno, which neighbours Adamawa, and one in five are at risk of dying.

Furthermore, Adamawa has a large Christian population, and Boko Haram has systematically targeted churches and Christians since its uprising in 2009.

"Church buildings suffered," Isaac said. "One pastor told me there wasn't a single Bible left – all were burned."

"This is one of the most painful things for us to deal with – not having the word of God in our hands" the pastor told him.

However, despite the difficulties, Nigerians are trying to move forward, Isaac added.

"These Christians refuse to let the challenges stop them from taking back their homes," he said.

Families are rebuilding temporary houses out of wood, grass and mud, and churches have begun holding services again.

"Some were rebuilt, but many others couldn't afford the costs, so gathered under trees or met in the ruins of their former church building," Isaac said.

"One church was little more than a skeleton, with no roof or walls. The congregation placed anything resembling a seat on the ground so they could hold a service without having to sit in the dirt.

"[Their] desperation was matched by determination."

SOURCE: Christiantoday