Humanitarian workers said there is a “catastrophic humanitarian crisis” in the areas where aid is being suspended. Two soldiers and three civilians, including one UNICEF staff were wounded in the ambush.
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United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) on Saturday said it would resume its aid to millions of children who have fallen victim to Boko Haram’s insurgency in north east Nigeria.
Its statement followed an announcement on Thursday that UNICEF was temporarily suspending humanitarian assistance missions after a convoy was attacked and two aid workers injured as they returned to the northeastern city of Maiduguri after delivering aid in Bama.
The convoy was returning to Maiduguri late Thursday after making delivery of much-needed food supplies to a camp of 24,000 impoverished people displaced by Boko Haram raids in the town of Bama.
Speaking yesterday, UNICEF’s country Representative, Jean Gough said, “We are working at full strength in the Borno state capital Maiduguri. It is an attack on the people who most need the assistance and aid that these workers were bringing”, Porter said.
“UNICEF has called on donors and humanitarian organizations to scale-up the response to the emerging disaster in Borno state, which is the most affected by the conflict with Boko Haram”.
Before the attack, UNICEF said security conditions had been improving in several areas.
The violence has disrupted farming and markets, destroyed food stocks, and damaged or destroyed health and water facilities.
The uprising by Boko Haram, which joined the Islamic State group previous year, has killed more than 20,000 people, forced more than 2 million from their homes and spread across Nigeria’s borders to Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Almost 250,00 children in Borno suffer from life-threatening malnourishment and around one in five will die if they do not receive treatment, UNICEF said earlier this month.
According to Ms. Gough, the temporary suspension will affect only high risk areas.
“At the beginning of the year, UNICEF appealed for US$55 million for its emergency work, of which US$23 million has so far been received”.
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He stated that the agencies were screening and treating children for malnutrition and improving access to water and sanitation.
