The Christian Aid UK in Nigeria, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) says an estimated 8.4 million people including men, women and children are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States.
The Country Director of the group, Mr Temitope Fashola, stated this on Friday at a news conference to mark the 2022 World Humanitarian Day in Abuja.
The theme for this year’s celebration is: “The Human Race; It Takes a Village” derived from a saying that stated that “it takes a village to raise a child”, which suggests that it takes a village to support a person, during humanitarian crisis.
Fashola said the conflict in North-east Nigeria had generated an alarming and large-scale humanitarian and protection crisis, without any significant sign of abating it.
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.
According to him, the organisation with its humanitarian response team has 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.
“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 States, with over 2.2 million displaced people.
“According to the March 2022 Cadre Harmonise, there are 4.1 million people at risk of hunger this lean season, normally lasting from June to September.
“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.
“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 explained that the development would lead to protection crisis that disproportionally affected women and girls who faced increased risk of violence, such as abduction, rape and abuse.
He said the humanitarians in North-east Nigeria had been working 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, 22 wounded and 28 kidnapped in the North East.
He added that six aid workers had been kidnapped since the beginning of the year till date.
According to him, 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.
“Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a whole community to help people in need; in an emergency, the first people to respond are always crisis-affected people themselves.
“The world may feel fractured right now, but this humanitarian action is evidence that unity and solidarity are still alive and strong, as individuals, our impact is limited, but together, we have tremendous power,’’ he stated.
Fashola urged states to invest in assisting and protecting the citizens in disasters, adding that it was part of their responsibilities to assist and protect 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 the organisation 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.
Fashola said that these interventions were being implemented with a view to meeting the immediate needs of the people, boosting economic growth, creating jobs and improving the overall livelihood and wellbeing of individuals and household. END