The charity, known by its French acronym MSF, said the region devastated by Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency had between 500 000 and 800 000 people trapped in areas that can not be reached by humanitarian workers.
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One staff of UNICEF and a contractor with the International Office of Migration were wounded, UNICEF said in a statement.
“As a result of the attack, in which one UNICEF staff member was injured, travel by United Nations staff to high risk areas has been temporarily suspended”.
“In continuation with clearance operation of towns and villages, troops of Sector 4 in Diffa (Niger) have successfully cleared Dutse village, captured and occupied Damasak town”, he said.
Thursday’s attack was the first such attack on aid workers in the volatile region.
A temporary travel ban on United Nations workers travelling to high risk areas remains in place but the agency said it planned to scale-up its response in the northeastern state of Borno.
“The convoy was travelling from Bama to Maiduguri in Borno State, Nigeria, returning from delivering desperately needed assistance”, when it was ambushed, UNICEF said in a statement Friday.
According to the group, almost 200 refugees who fled Boko Haram attacks, have died of starvation and dehydration.
The charity Doctors Without Borders warned this week that more than 500,000 people in Borno state urgently need emergency assistance.
Pipelines are needed as worldwide organisations are struggling to access the villages and towns in northeast Nigeria.
More than 15,000 people have been killed and at least 2 million displaced by Boko Haram’s insurgency in Nigeria.
“It is a situation of complete destitution, with hardly anything to eat”, said MSF emergency programme director Hugues Robert who was part of the team in Banki.
Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has lost most of the territory it controlled 18 months ago, is fighting to overthrow the government.
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“A quarter of a million people have improved access to clean water, and over 200,000 children have been able to go back to school”, the agency stressed.
