Nigeria: 7 million people need vital assistance

United Nations, July 24 (Xinhua / GNA) – The
In northeastern Nigeria, a 10-year-old crisis left more than seven million people in
need for life support, including three million in food insecurity,
a spokesman for the UN said Tuesday.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the crisis is also affecting internally displaced people.
some 1.8 million people, and "this number is increasing because of the
violent clashes between non-State armed groups and Niger security
forces".

In 2009, Boko Haram activists launched a
the insurgency in order to establish an Islamic caliphate in the north
Nigeria. More than 27,000 people were killed in the north-east of the country.
conflict, according to the media.

Despite the insecurity, the United Nations
and humanitarian organizations have reached more than 2 million people with
Haq added that the humanitarian response plan for Nigeria 2019 was aimed at
848 million US dollars to help 6.2 million people, but it's only 33%
funded.

Beyond Nigeria, he said, Boko Haram
the uprising also affects Cameroon, Chad and Niger, with nearly 10 million people
people in need of humanitarian badistance in the Lake Chad region.

Haq noted that the humanitarian community was
seeking $ 1.3 billion for the region in 2019, but the call was only 20
percent funded.

GNA