A UN official working on humanitarian aid in Africa warns of “a famine unlike any we have seen anywhere” in northeastern Nigeria unless aid is provided immediately, says the Washington Post. “The staggering hunger crisis created by (Boko Haram) insurgents has been largely hidden from view.” According to the Post, the Nigerian government has refused to acknowledge the problem and outside authorities “dramatically under-estimated the size of the disaster.”
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network lists Nigeria, along with Yemen and South Sudan, as an area of highest concern. “Reports from newly accessible areas in the northeast continue to suggest levels of acute malnutrition remain Critical,” says FEWS NET. “Boko Haram conflict continues to contribute to large-scale population displacement, limit market activity and restrict normal livelihoods.” Published reports over the summer have pointed to food hardship in the northeastern corner of the country.
The Post says “more than 3 million people displaced and isolated by the militants are facing one of the world’s biggest humanitarian disasters.” Aid experts say thousands of people have died already, said the newspaper. “Even now, the United Nations admits it is distributing food to only a fraction of those who need it. It says its mission in Borno state, the focus of the crisis, is dramatically underfunded.”
In a situation report in mid-September, the UN World Food Program cited estimates of 1.1 million people “severely food insecure in Borno and Yobe states.” They were part of the estimated 4.4 million food-insecure people in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. The WFP began work in Nigeria in August and by the end of the month had assisted 86,000 people with cash and 194,000 adults and children with food aid.
Oil-rich Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with a population of 186 million.