Tearfund partners in Nigeria are providing essential aid to people displaced by a recent surge in violence.
Food, water and clothing are being distributed to families that have arrived in the central city of Jos from northern states.
The Islamic group Boko Haram has been blamed for a number of attacks in states such as Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Bauchi and Kano resulting in thousands of people fleeing their homes.
An estimated 2,000 people have arrived in Jos in need of support and members of local churches are opening their homes to take in the displaced.
Boko Haram, which means Western education is sinful, has killed more than 900 people since it emerged in 2009 and 250 people in the first few weeks of this year, according to Human Rights Watch.
Economic suffering
Its aim is to turn Nigeria into an Islamic state ruled under Sharia law and its targets are mostly the police, military and government, but it has recently increased its attacks on Christian institutions.
According to a Tearfund partner, out of the 38 churches in Potiskum in Yobe state, only four are still standing, while in Damaturu 12 out of 94 churches have not been touched
‘Each and every attack on the Christian community also inflicts serious injuries on the economic life of the people living in the northern area, thereby subjecting them to various degrees of suffering,’ said a spokesman.
Last week UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned deadly attacks in the city of Kano which killed more than 180 people, saying he was appalled at the disregard for human life.