9 million people affected by insurgency — US

monjola sotubo

July 18, 2016 11:42 AM

The disclosure was made by the Director of the US Office of Assistance for Africa Bureau of Population, Margaret McKelvey to Punch.

Boko Haram

According to the United States government, nine million people have been affected by the

The disclosure was made by the Director of the US Office of Assistance for Africa Bureau of Population, Margaret McKelvey to Punch.

“I do want to call your attention to and highlight in particular, the situation of Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin countries. This has been called one of the most under-reported crises in the world today,” she said.

“We are talking about nine million people actually directly affected by Boko Haram and its depredations across the four countries. So, being registered, having a recognised identity, having documentation can be very important in proving who you are and the fact that you exist.

“We like to see birth registrations for refugee children for example. On the total number of refugees that are being counted today in the Lake Chad Basin area would be just under 155, 000. In addition, there are just over 77, 000 people who had been living in Nigeria but of Chadian, Nigerian and Cameroonian background who returned to their home countries. So, those people we call returnees.

“Now the really big numbers are the IDPs and most of those are in Nigeria itself; just over two million — maybe I shouldn’t say just over, approaching 2.1 million. There are also people who have been internally displaced in the other three countries by Boko Haram attacks. So, on the Cameroon side, we have close to 191,000; on the Chad side, close to 112,000 and on the Niger side, 167,000. So, hopefully that answers your questions about the numbers.

“Boko Haram has attacked IDP camps inside Nigeria. They have attacked villages, most recently in Niger, uprooting another 100,000 people, being secondarily uprooted if you will. So, having secured access to be able to bring in humanitarian supplies and to reach the people in need is clearly the number one challenge,” she added.

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Meanwhile, the United Nations has likened the food crisis in Nigeria’s North-East to the situation in Darfur, South Sudan.

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