UN: 75 000 Nigerian Children At Risk of Starvation

The United Nations have warned that as many as 75 000 Nigerian children are at risk of dying from starvation because of the horrendous conditions created by terrorist group, Boko Haram.

Since Boko Haram has been terrorising parts of the country for the past seven years, conditions all around the country have worsened and several parts of the country have been struck by famine.

According to Arjan de Wagt, a nutrition chief for Unicef in Nigeria, the malnutrition of the children in the areas of Nigeria is currently one of the worst humanitarian issues in the world.

So far, Boko Haram has caused the death of more than 20 000 civilians in Nigeria through their attacks and kidnappings.

However, the risk of having 75 000 children die because of malnutrition is way worse than the 20 000.

De Wagt also said that children are dying everyday, but that donors are not responding to the crisis – or at least, not responding well enough.

He also said that many of the children are dying because of secondary diseases associated with malnutrition.

Unicef has likened the situation in Nigeria to that of Somalia a few years ago.

“…Globally, you just don’t see this. You have to go back to places like Somalia five years ago to see these kinds of levels,” de Wagt said.

Unicef has since doubled their amount of appeal for Nigeria to $115 million. Thus far, only $24 million has been raised.

Doctors Without Borders has also joined in on the call for more aid for Nigeria, saying in a statement:

“…The mortality rate is five times higher than what is considered an emergency, with the main cause being hunger.”