Chioma Umeha
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr
Edward Kallon, has condemned a deadly attack that took place on 31 October in a
camp for internally displaced people just a few kilometers from Borno State
capital Maiduguri. The camp hosts 12,600 civilians who are seeking refuge there
after having fled the violence in north-east Nigeria in past months.
A non-state armed group carried out the attack on
the camp adjacent to Dalori village and on four surrounding communities after
dark, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens more, kidnapping women,
and burning and looting homes, shelters and food stocks. Hundreds have also been displaced as a
result, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.
“I urge the Government of Nigeria to step up the
protection of innocent people,” said Mr Kallon. “Attacks on camps for
internally displaced people threaten these innocent women, children and men who
have already fled their homes as a result of the ongoing conflict. Our deepest
condolences go to the families of the victims of this attack and we wish the
injured a speedy recovery.”
The attack took place in one of the nine camps for
internally displaced people in Dalori; the camps were set up from 2015 and are
now home to 47,500 civilians. More than 20 aid organisations are providing
assistance including food, safe water, sanitation, medicine and shelter to
thousands of people. In January 2016 a non-state armed group attack Dalori
village, killing more than 100 people and burning most of the village down.
The humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s north-east,
that has spilled over into the Lake Chad region, is one of the most severe in
the world today, with 7.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in
2018 in the worst-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, and 6.1 million
targeted for humanitarian assistance. Since the start of the conflict in 2009,
more than 27,000 people have been killed in the three states, thousands of
women and girls abducted and children used as so-called “suicide” bombers.
