World News | UN: Nigerians Hit by Extremist Violence Need USD 1.3 Billion

Abuja, Feb 16 (AP) At least 6 million Nigerians affected by the extremist insurgency in northeastern Nigeria need USD 1.3 billion in aid this year, according to the UN office in Nigeria.

The 2023 UN humanitarian response plan launched 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.

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“An estimated 2.4 million people are in acute need and require urgent support,” said Matthias Schmale, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Nigeria.

“The large-scale humanitarian and protection crisis shows no sign of abating.”

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Over 80 per cent of those in need in northeastern Nigeria are women and children, according to the UN.

“The ticking time bomb of child malnutrition is escalating in Nigeria's northeast, with the number of children suffering from acute malnutrition projected to increase to 2 million in 2023,” it said.

The appeal for aid for those hungry and displaced comes just as Africa's most populous country, with 214 million people, readies for its presidential election on February 25.

The humanitarian crisis could further squeeze many in Nigeria, which has an unemployment rate of 33 per cent and 63 per cent of the people are in poverty.

Boko Haram, Nigeria's homegrown Islamic extremist rebels, launched an insurgency in 2009 to fight against western education and to establish Islamic Shariah law in the country's northeast.

Their rebellion has spread over the years to the neighbouring West African countries of Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

A breakaway faction of the group, known as the Islamic State West Africa Province, has risen to prominence, dominating the Lake Chad region where they often target security force convoys and outposts.

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, starve or face acute malnutrition if donors and authorities do not act quickly.(AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)