DAKAR, 28 November 2014 (IRIN) – More than 400,000 people in northeastern Nigeria, who have been forced to flee their homes due to ongoing violence by militant Islamist group Boko Haram, are in “urgent need” of assistance, humanitarian agencies say. This number is likely to increase as attacks against civilians escalate.
“There’s a major crisis going on in the northeast, and it’s not being recognized for the crisis it is,” said Sarah Ndikumana, country director for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Nigeria. “Since late August, the insurgency movement has been aggressively and progressively taking Adamawa State over and establishing their presence, and what this means is that hundreds of thousands have fled.”
This has left “countless” people without access to food, water, shelter, medical care and other basic necessities, such as clothing and soap. “You’re talking about huge movements of populations and these people flee with nothing,” Ndikumana said. “These are surprise attacks, so people literally come with only their shirts on their backs. They don’t know anybody, they don’t have anything and many aren’t getting anything.”
A double suicide bombing at a busy marketplace in Borno State’s largest city, Maiduguri, on 25 November, which killed “dozens” of people, is the latest in a wave of terrorist attacks in the region.
A growing crisis
At least 1.5 million people have been internally displaced since May 2013, when the Nigerian government first declared a state of emergency in the northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, according to the government. At least 150,000 have taken refuge in neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon, according to the UN Refugee Agency. The European Union aid body ECHO says this number could be as high as 180,000.
Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says they registered nearly 700,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) between January and November. Most have appeared within the past six months.
Following the takeover of Mubi town (in Adamawa State) by Boko Haram on 29 October, more than 20,000 IDPs were registered by NEMA at formal camps in Yola, the capital of Adamawa State, during a single week.
Tens of thousands more are believed to have taken refuge in makeshift settlements within neighbouring host communities, and remain undocumented.
“As we speak, there is still an influx of displaced people fleeing from northeastern areas,” said Fernando Arroyo, head of OCHA’s operations in Nigeria. “The trend has continued unabated for a very long time now, but it has really accelerated in the last few weeks.”
Source: IRIN
