While x-raying the challenges of the people, the UN report said that natural disasters contributed adversely in wreaking havoc on the people.
No fewer than 10.6 million victims of the Boko Haram insurgency now need urgent assistance and relief materials in the terrorism-ravaged North-East of Nigeria due to the grinding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which coordinates emergency relief in the North-East region, stated this.
In the report obtained by SaharaReporters, the UN agency said, “The number of people in need of urgent assistance in north-east Nigeria rose from 7.9 million at the beginning of 2020 to 10.6 million since the onset of COVID-19.
“As many as 4.3 million people may become food insecure; up from pre-COVID-19 figures of 3.7 million Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states recorded COVID-19 cases, some in IDP camps. Aid actors have adapted the response, including setting up hand washing stations and quarantine shelters.”
While x-raying the challenges of the people, the UN report said that natural disasters contributed adversely in wreaking havoc on the people.
“Heavy rainfalls and floods have affected over 100,000 people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, hindering access. Humanitarians pre-positioned assistance and are mobilising increased resources.
“Despite challenges, aid workers have already reached over three million people with life-saving assistance in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states since the beginning of the year,” the report added.
Since the Boko Haram insurgency started in 2009 from Borno State, spreading its heinous tentacles to other parts of the North-East, the growing number of internally displaced persons has multiplied in millions.
This has made the Federal Government, and state governments of the affected region and several non-governmental organisations, to provide relief materials and render support to alleviate the pains of the victims.
Recently, in September 2020, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, announced that the Federal Government donated food items to 26,067 households who were victims of Boko Haram insecurity and floods in Borno.