Over five million Boko Haram victims need food assistance, says UN

The United Nations says 5.2 million people affected by the Boko Haram crisis are in need of food assistance.

Speaking on Thursday in an interaction with people at Bakassi internally displaced persons camp in Maiduguri, Edward Kallon, UN personnel, said it had put measures in place to provide food assistance to about 3.9 million displaced persons in the north east and Lake Chad Basin.

Kallon is the country coordinator, UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA).

He said the UN, in collaboration with the federal government and donor agencies, would provide food assistance to households displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.

“This crisis is big; there are about 5.2 million people that need food assistance every day,” he said.

“The humanitarian community working with the government are providing food assistance to close to 2.4 million people right now.

“We are also very happy that the government of Nigeria has also increased its assistance and thereby reaching another 1.5 million people.

“The international community, the government of Borno, the federal
Government of Nigeria and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) et cetera.

“We are working round the clock and we will be reaching at least 3.9 million people with food assistance.”

Kallah disclosed that the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FOA) had also distributed fertilisers, seeds and inputs to 140, 000 households in the liberated communities to enable them to return to their farms.

According to him, other UN agencies were also providing shelter to the affected persons to enable them return home and re-build their lives.