West and Central Africa: Weekly Regional Humanitarian Snapshot (26 January - 1 February 2016)

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

IDP RETURNS IN OUHAM PROVINCE

Around 3,800 voluntary returnees were recently registered in Kambakota village in Ouham Province. They had been forced to flee their homes during clashes between armed groups in December 2015. Now back to their villages, they are facing tough living conditions . Priority needs include potable water, health services and education.

PRESIDENTIAL RUN-OFF SET FOR 14 FEBRUARY

Run-off presidential election that had been due on 31 January will now be held on 14 February, the presidency announced on 28 January. The second round will be between two former prime ministers: Anicet Georges Dologuélé and Faustin Archange Touadéra.
The delay was prompted by organizational problems. Fresh legislative polls will also be held on the same day.

CHAD

TEN KILLED IN SUICIDE ATTACKS

Suspected Boko Haram members on 31 January raided two villages on the shores of Lake Chad in Hadjer-Lamis region and killed at least 10 people. Eight people were killed in Guité village and two others in the nearby Mitériné village in near-simultaneous suicide blasts. Some 55 people were injured in both attacks, 20 of them seriously and have been transferred to the capital N’Djamena.

NIGERIA

SCORES KILLED IN VILLAGE RAIDS

Scores of people were killed and injured on 30 January in an attack perpetrated by suspected Boko Haram fighters on the villages of Dalori and Walori near Maiduguri. The attack reportedly involved armed raiders and suicide bombers. Over 300 houses were burned down and the number of fatalities given by local sources ranges between 65 and 250. Most of the wounded have been taken to medical facilities in Maiduguri, where some survivors reportedly continue to arrive.

SIERRA LEONE / EVD

THREE INJURED IN RIOTS

Three people were seriously injured on 26 January during skirmishes between police and youths near the western Kambia town.
The youths rioted in protest against alleged lack of consultation over the closure of a local market as part of efforts to find missing contacts following the recent Ebola deaths. Meanwhile, no new cases were reported in the week ending 31 January.
Response is ongoing with the Inter-Agency Rapid Response Team at national and district level supporting the Government.
Some 126 contacts have been identified in the four districts of Kambia, Bombali, Port Loko and Tonkolii out of whom 35 considered to be high risk have been quarantined and being monitored.