United Nations said its humanitarian mission has discovered some 400 fresh graves of adults and children, who died very recently from hunger and disease in Rann, Kala/ Balge Local Government Area of Borno State.
According to a report released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which covers the period from December 15, 2016 to January 6, 2017, the UN added that an estimated 450,000 children aged under-five will suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in 2017.
The 10-page report titled Nigeria Emergency Situation Report No. 3, gave an account of the state of needs and possible solutions to issues of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-East states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa; access and security in the region; malnutrition, among others.
“In December, humanitarian missions observed over 40,000 people in each of the latter two sites experiencing grim conditions and great hunger. On 22 December 2016, a humanitarian mission to Rann (Kala/ Balge LGA) on the Cameroon border witnessed severe acute malnutrition and mortality, including some 400 fresh graves of adults and children who died very recently from hunger and disease.
“According to the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), a projected 5.1 million people in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states in Nigeria’s North-East will be food insecure this year.
High rates of malnutrition, including SAM, were found recently in places like Rann and Magumeri, both in Borno State,” the report said. Describing the humanitarian needs in the area as severe owing to the inability of the residents who predominantly are farmers to tend to their fields for three years because of the conflict in the area, the commission said an estimated 1.64 million IDPs still live in camps, settlements and with host communities in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
The OCHA report, which was produced in collaboration with humanitarian partners, also identified among other constraints affecting humanitarian response in the region to include official disconnection between UN agencies and the Federal Government.
“A major constraint affecting the humanitarian response, in addition to limited resources and lack of access, is the disconnection between UN agencies and Government in Abuja and the reality on the ground.
“Even when resources were flowing in, in larger amounts, at the end of the year, officials in Abuja did not delegate decisions affecting the emergency response to their heads of sub-office; neither did they travel frequently to the North-East to obtain information and advice directly from their experts.
“There are consequences to having the Senior Management Team (SMT) in Abuja composed of many organisations that do not have staff working on the ground in the humanitarian response: decisions by an uninvolved majority of members may jeopardise the performance of the minority, imposing unnecessary limitations and burdens on resources.
“Conflict of interests between the coordination and programme management roles of co-lead agencies continues to undermine coordination,” the report said.
Whilst stating that there is a shortage of camp management staff to manage displacement and ensure access to services and protection, the commission said 76 per cent of IDPs don’t want to return to their homes unless their security can be guaranteed. It added that assistance is required to reconstruct and repair destroyed or damaged homes, to encourage sustainable IDP returns.
“Over 1,039,267 people have returned to their homes with little or no support from government, humanitarian and development actors. This gap has existed since IDPs started returning to Adamawa in 2015.
“Lack of coordination at the LGA level may have delayed an adequate response in Monguno and Damboa LGAs. There is a lack of land to decongest settlements and relocate IDPs from public buildings in Maiduguri and Monguno,” the report stated.
On shelter and displacement in the area, the report said: “Out of the 78,578 households in settlements across three states, a significant number of households live in the open without any form of shelter: Adamawa 2,414, Borno 74,164 and Yobe 2,000.
“In Borno, 10 per cent of the households live in the open while in Adamawa, two per cent have no shelter.” While commending the constant engagement in civil-military coordination mechanism, the UN agency said after discussions with limthe UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) and other UN agencies operating in Nigeria, an agreement was reached to migrate to Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) in 2017.
On nutrition needs in the zone, the report said: “In 2017, an estimated 3.4 million people (children 6-59 months and pregnant and lactating women) will require humanitarian nutrition services in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. Of these, it is estimated that 450,000 children between 6-59 months old will suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
“In 2016, the estimated number in need of nutrition assistance stood at 2.5 million people, of which 400,000 children 6-59 months were estimated to be suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).”
On access and security, the report said: “Restrictions on movement around Sambisa Forest during a recent military offensive impeded the delivery of aid to four LGAs in Borno State and armed escorts are still required for humanitarian cargo and staff movements along the forest’s boundaries.
“The conflict in Sambisa Forest spilled over to two LGAs in neighbouring Adamawa State, with attacks reported in the LGAs of Michika and Madagali. Meanwhile, the government declared that roads are now open for civilian traffic to Damasak (in Mobbar LGA on the Niger border) and Baga (in Kukawa LGA on the shores of Lake Chad), but for the time being, military escorts would be needed.” On IDPs return to their homes, the report stated that: “While the numbers of IDPs grew in some areas, other places experienced reductions.
Adamawa State had an overall reduction of 17,454 in IDP numbers; Borno State saw a drop of 22,040; and Yobe State saw a fall of 12,434. “While IDP numbers remain high overall at 1.6 million people, the drop in numbers in each state signals that a significant number of IDPs recently felt able to return home.
An October 2016 IOM survey of return intentions revealed that 98.5 per cent of IDPs wish to return to their places of origin. However, most will not do so unless they are guaranteed security.”
On population movement of the displaced persons, the report posits that: “In December, over a thousand refugees arrived from Cameroon to the border town of Banki, sometimes delivered there by the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) through an arrangement with the Nigerian armed forces.
The reasons for these repatriations are not yet clear, nor is it clear how many were Nigerian refugees. “Some may have been IDPs finding their way to Banki through Cameroon, to avoid armed groups on the Nigerian roads.
In late December, a group of 963 IDPs arrived in Diari village near the Muna Garage settlement on the outskirts of Maiduguri. Most of these IDPs came from the adjacent LGAs of Dikwa and Mafa in east Borno State.
“They were escaping attacks on their villages by armed groups fleeing military operations in Sambisa Forest. The fighters reportedly abducted some of the IDPs’ children. These attacks prompted IDPs in nearby villages to flee too, as they had no military protection.”
New Telegraph
