‘1.4million children homeless because of Boko Haram’

Some 1.4 million children in Nigeria and neighbouring countries have fled their homes due to Boko Haram attacks, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

The UN body said there has been a sharp increase in attacks by Boko Haram, which have uprooted 500,000 children over the past five months.

“In northern Nigeria alone, nearly 1.2 million children – over half of them under five years old – have been forced to flee their homes. An additional 265,000 children have been uprooted in Cameroon, Chad and Niger,” UNICEF said in a statement.

Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF regional director for west and central Africa, said for “each of these children running for their lives, [it]  is a childhood cut short.

“It’s truly alarming to see that children and women continue to be killed, abducted and used to carry bombs.

“With more refugees and not enough resources, our ability to deliver lifesaving assistance on the ground is now seriously compromised.

“Without additional support, hundreds of thousands of children in need will lack access to basic health care, safe drinking water and education.”

The UN said it had scaled up its lifesaving operations to thousands of children and their families affected by the violence.

In 2015 alone, over 315,000 children have been vaccinated against measles, while more than 200,000 people have received access to safe water.

Another 65,000 displaced and refugee children have had access to education and are able to continue their learning thanks to the delivery of school materials, with nearly 72,000 displaced children receiving counselling and psychosocial support.

Almost 65,000 children under five have received treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

UNICEF has received only 32 per cent of the US$ 50.3 million required this year for its humanitarian response across the Lake Chad region.

As a result of this shortfall, over 124,000 children affected by the conflict have yet to be immunized against measles, while more than 83,000 still lack access to safe water and more than 208,000 are out of school.