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Nigeria: Funds running out for Boko Haram displaced people

Nigeria: Funds running out for Boko Haram displaced people

Nigeria

The prolonged humanitarian crisis in the wake of the Boko Haram insurgency has had a devastating impact on food and nutrition security in Northeast Nigeria.

The World Food Programme (WFP) says funds to address the crisis will run out in the next 4-6 weeks.

Baba Gana Mai Abba makes a living as a driver in Dikwa, Borno State, Nigeria before Boko Haram insurgents took his belongings and burnt his house as they fled the town following a military intervention.

“Boko Haram chased me from my home here, and I fled to a nearby village. When I came back I found that they had burned my house with everything in it,” he said.

Experts say tensions have flared between the government and aid agencies over the scale of hunger in the northeast, which is suffering from a lack of funding from international donors.

“We are pushing back on famine-like conditions in Borno State where we have close to 2 million people who require immediate food assistance. Our major challenge right now across the four countries; northeast Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, the first challenge is funding, in the next 4 – 6 weeks in northeast Nigeria we will completely run out of funds,” said Denise Brown, WFP Director of Emergencies.

Chad, which is hosting thousands of refugees from Nigeria is also struggling to cope with the numbers. Around 345,000 people are in need of assistance.

Insecurity has prevented farmers from accessing their fields, leading to significantly below-average harvests in recent years, one factor pushing up this annual lean season to as early as May, instead of July.

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