The Christian Aid UK in Nigeria, a Non-Governmental Organisation has revealed that in 2022 alone, an estimated 8.4 million women, men and children are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states, with over 2.2 million displaced people.
The Country Director, Temitope Fashola, stated this at the just concluded 2022 World Humanitarian Day in Abuja with theme: “The Human Race; It Takes a Village”.
He said from the March 2022 Cadre Harmonise, there are 4.1 million people at risk of hunger this lean season, normally lasting from June to September.
He said among them is an estimated 587.955 people, who are projected to be at emergency levels (phase4). This crisis is happening to a population that is already highly vulnerable, as millions of people have been pushed into survival mode.
According to him, malnutrition is increasing and threatening the survival of more than a million highly vulnerable children, approximately 1.74 million children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition across the north-east in 2022.
“Of these, over 300,000 are expected to suffer from sever acute malnutrition and are at high risk of death, if they do not receive urgent treatment,’’ he warned.
Fashola further noted that about 80 per cent of people in need of humanitarian assistance across the North-east states, were women and children.
He said conflict in North-east Nigeria, has generated an alarming and large-scale humanitarian and protection crisis, that shows no sign of abating.
He said that Christian Aid had been delivering humanitarian assistance to conflict and crisis affected people across nine states in Nigeria, which included, Adamawa, Anambra, Benue, Borno, Delta, Gombe, Kaduna, Kogi and Plateau.
The country director noted that the organisation with its humanitarian response team of 60 staff and 38 volunteers, had been working in different locations to respond to the needs, caused by floods, violent clashes and insurgency.
He said that communities of intervention included Biu, Bayo, Hawul, Mafa and Kwayo Kusar Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Borno, as well as in Michika and Madaggali LGAs in Adamawa.
He said that humanitarians in North-east Nigeria worked in extremely challenging circumstances, often risking their lives and safety, to reach people in need.
According to him, the security environment is volatile and unpredictable and includes threats to both humanitarian assets and personnel.
Fashola noted that findings by the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD),since 2015, had shown that 35 aid workers had been killed in the North-east, 22 wounded and 28 kidnapped, adding that so far, in 2022, six aid workers had been kidnapped.
He said that Christian Aid therefore joined the rest of the world to honour and applaud the thousands of volunteers and professionals.
The country director added that these persons risked their lives daily, to deliver urgent healthcare, shelter, food, protection, water and much more, to crisis-affected and hard –to-reach communities.
Fashola encouraged states to invest their own resources in assisting and protecting their citizens in disasters, both because it is the humane thing to do and because it is part of their responsibilities to assist and protect their own citizens in times of disasters.
According to him, Christian Aid will continue to advocate for governments in Nigeria at all levels, along with the private sector, to mobilise necessary resources to reach vulnerable populations, who cannot be reached by international humanitarians.
He said that Christian Aid had over 3,000 households benefitting from the ongoing humanitarian response that cut across food distribution and nutrition, cash distribution, education in emergency, protection, agriculture and WASH.
The country director said that the organisation also had 1,639 households participating in 20 different Income-Generating Activities (IGAs) such as food, processing, tailoring, making of caps, shoes, bags and other wears, bricklaying, production of briquette and energy-efficient stoves.
