Hundreds of displaced people, especially children in Bama, one of the town recently liberated from Boko Haram in Borno State, North East Nigeria are now confronted with mass starvation following the decision of United Nations to suspend aid deliveries to the area.
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The attack prompted a temporary suspension of United Nations humanitarian assistance missions in the area pending a reevaluation of the security situation, a UNICEF statement said.
According to Dailypost, a team of United Nations, UN, officials was attacked on Thursday by Boko Haram. “It is an attack on the people who most need the assistance and aid that these workers were bringing”, said UNICEF. Two soldiers and three civilians, including one UNICEF staff were wounded in the ambush.
He said the joint military offensive by troops from the four countries “has led to the recapture of 80 percent of areas under Boko Haram control, the freeing of thousands of captives and the prevention of terrorist attacks”.
The military warned earlier this month that Boko Haram fighters were fleeing its daily aerial bombardments and ground attacks in the forest, heading toward the border with Cameroon. The conflict between the militants and the government has forced farmers off their land and has led to the shutting down of major production facilities.
Humanitarian workers say there is a “catastrophic humanitarian crisis” in the areas where aid is being suspended.
Since June, the attacks have even been promoted by media outlets of the so-called Islamic State, to which Boko Haram’s leaders have sworn allegiance.
Apart from that of Thursday, there is no known report of an attack on humanitarian workers in the region.
Over half a million people are said to be living in unsanitary conditions in several villages and town across the state of Borno.
The area around Banki, accessible only with a military escort, is now sheltering some 15,000 people, the vast majority of them displaced from their homes by conflict.
The situation in Banki is similar to that found by the Nigerian authorities and other MSF teams and aid organizations in different parts of Borno state.
The UN’s children’s agency Unicef warned last week that nearly 250,000 children in parts of Nigeria’s Borno state, formerly controlled by Boko Haram, were suffering from severe malnutrition.
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MSF calls on worldwide organisations to mobilise to provide emergency food and medical aid to the people of Borno State.
