UN Urges More Support In Tackling Humanitarian Crisis In N’East

The United Nations has renewed its call for more interventions to address the nagging humanitarian crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East.
The call was contained in a statement issued in Maiduguri, yesterday by the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UN-OCHA.
The UN said a team of senior officials had conducted a five-day assessment tour of Borno State and visited Internally Displaced Person camps in Damboa, Dikwa, Maiduguri and Rann.
It said the team observed that the humanitarian crisis in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe needed renewed support to face the recent upsurge in violence and growing humanitarian needs.
The UN quoted Mr. Vincent Houver of the International Organisation for Migration as saying that “the crisis in the Lake Chad Region is far from over. The humanitarian community cannot spare any effort at this time.
“This week, we met women, children and men who were forced to flee multiple times and urgently need protection and assistance to survive and rebuild their lives. We cannot let them down.”
According to the UN agency, more than 134,000 persons had been displaced since January due to upsurge in violence and military counter-operations in the sub region.
It revealed that about 7.1 million people needed lifesaving assistance, including food, nutrition and healthcare interventions, while about three million others, including one million children, were vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Edward Kallon, disclosed that aid agencies had scaled up humanitarian response to address the situation.
“Aid agencies have significantly scaled up and reached some two million people with aid this year.