Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Nigeria + 3 more

Lake Chad Basin: Crisis Update No. 17 (11 July 2017)

Attachments

Regional Highlights

• Only 28.5 per cent of the funds needed for food assistance programmes in north-east Nigeria has been received, prompting cut-backs and readjustments. The Government launches the distribution of 30,000 tons of cereals.

• Humanitarian actors and the authorities in Nigeria’s Borno state develop a contingency plan to provide life-saving assistance during the current rainy season that carries the risks of flooding, food and nutrition insecurity, epidemics and displacement.

• More than 5.6 million children across the region are at risk of contracting waterborne disease as the rainy season gets underway. Flooding and roads rendered impassable due to the rains are expected to severely limit humanitarian access to remote areas for several weeks.

• Since mid-April, more than 13,000 Nigerian refugees have returned from Cameroon. Aid organisations are providing emergency assistance and preparing long-term measures to assist the returnees.

• Roadside bombs, suicide attacks and raids on villages continue to cause insecurity in Cameroon’s Far North region, complicating humanitarian operations and subjecting civilians to persistent danger.

Situation overview

• Food insecurity will significantly deteriorate if adequate level of assistance is not provided. In Nigeria, due to funding constraints and the need to ensure the most vulnerable continue to receive food assistance, WFP has developed a prioritisation plan which includes shifting from status based to needs based targeting of food assistance. In Cameroon, lack of funding has forced the agency to reduce food assistance by 25 per cent to nearly 200,000 Nigerian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Far North since January. In Niger, WFP has had to review its operational planning and targeting due to lack of funds.

• The rainy season is underway, which is a boost to agriculture, but also compounding the difficulties faced by millions of people displaced by conflict. More than 5.6 million children are at increased risk of contracting waterborne diseases across the region. Flooding and roads rendered impassable due to the downpours are likely to limit humanitarian access to remote localities. The authorities and aid agencies in Nigeria’s Borno state have developed a contingency plan for the rainy season. The US$148 million plan includes time-critical, life-saving activities as prioritised by sectors in the immediate term based on the most likely scenario, but within the overall 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan.

Population Movement

• More than 13,000 Nigerian refugees have returned from Cameroon since mid-April. Partners have raised concerns about the increasing influx of refugees to border areas including Banki, Pulka and Gwoza where facilities and available resources are already overstretched. Aid organisations are providing emergency assistance and preparing long-term measures to support the returnees.

• Around 900 Nigerian refugees left Minawao camp in Cameroon’s Far North region on 17 June for Nigeria. They were reportedly escorted by Cameroonian authorities up to Amchidé, a border-town close to Banki town, where the convoy was handed over to the Nigerian authorities. Most of those returning are originally from Pulka town in Nigeria’s north-east. Efforts are underway to set up a humanitarian hub in Banki to assist the new arrivals.

• More than 11,000 Nigerian refugees in Niger have reportedly returned to Damasak town in Nigeria between January and May. However, much of the cross-border movements are reportedly back-and-forth, with many people returning to Niger due to insufficient humanitarian aid, loss of means of subsistence, limited access to basic services and insecurity experienced outside of the camps in Nigeria.

• Nine suspected Boko Haram fighters and over 100 accomplices were apprehended by Nigerian authorities during a screening process for 920 refugees who arrived in the border area of Banki from Cameroon on 28 June.

Disclaimer

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.