North-east facing staggering humanitarian crisis, says UN

The north-east is facing a staggering humanitarian crisis and needs an increased scale of assistance, Toby Lanzer, UN assistant secretary general and regional humanitarian coordinator, says.

Lanzer said this on Tuesday at a media briefing after he visited the region.

He explained that the successes of troops in the region have opened up news areas, formerly under the hold of Boko Haram, for assistance.

“Nine million people need emergency relief; 4.5 million people are severely food insecure and 2.5 million people have been forced out of their homes,” he said.

Boko Haram’s seven-year insurgency has ravaged the north east, leaving the region at risks of famine and diseases.

With malnutrition rife as hundred die from starvation and children of school age mostly out of school, medicines sans frontier, a not-for-profit organisation, in July, accused the UN and the federal government of responding slowly to the crisis.

Two weeks ago, the federal ministry of health announced the re-emergence of polio in the region, resulting in a setback for Nigeria’s two years polio-free status.