Boko Haram Islamic extremists ambushed a humanitarian convoy escorted by troops in northeast Nigeria on Thursday, wounding three civilians including a United Nations worker, and two soldiers, the army and UNICEF said.
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The gallant troops however, successfully cleared the ambush and exploited up to Afunori.
Damasak, a fishing and irrigation hub which lies close to the border with Niger, some 180 kilometres (120 miles) north of Borno state capital Maiduguri, was seized by Boko Haram in November 2014.
“Unknown assailants attacked a humanitarian convoy that included staff from UNICEF, UNFPA, and IOM”, the statement added.
The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has called on all global agencies and the Nigerian government to help assist children in at risk of malnutrition.
The U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, says an employee and a contractor were injured in the attack and are being treated at a local hospital.
“In these two locations alone, we identified more than 100,000 people who are in immediate need of food and other help”, says Michael Muazu, a Mercy Corps humanitarian projects manager who conducted the assessment.
Boko Haram attacks against the population have severely affected the North-east of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
However, they noted the progress made in the implementation of the Joint Multinational Force (FMM) and urged Member States participating in that Force to improve cooperation and military coordination in the region, to refuse harbouring Boko Haram, to facilitate the restoration of the rule of law in areas liberated form Boko Haram and to allow humanitarian access.
“Our teams were finding people living on the brink of disaster”, said Jean Gough, “The violence has disrupted farming and markets, destroyed food stocks, and damaged or destroyed health and water facilities”.
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. “We absolutely have to reach more of these communities”, he said. “At the beginning of the year, UNICEF appealed for $55m for its emergency work, of which $23m has so far been received”.
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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.
