The repeated attacks by militants of the terrorist group Boko Haram have growing humanitarian consequences for countries of the Lake Chad Basin area as over nine million displaced people now need assistance. Humanitarian Bulletin West and Central Africa in its February 2016 issue stated that around 9.2 million people are  already  in need  of  humanitarian assistance. He explained that the protracted violence by Boko Haram  and military operations against the armed group  have displaced some 2.7 million people in  the four countries  of the Lake Chad Basin that include Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. “Northeast Nigeria alone accounts for 2.2 million of the displaced. Around 4.4 million people in the conflict affected region are severely food insecure with an estimated 223,000 severely acutely malnourished children,” the report stated.

The report further disclosed that in  recent weeks, around 100,000 people in Niger’s south east Diffa region fled their  homes in fear of attacks and sought shelter alongside the highway linking the capital  Niamey to the east of the country.  A recent needs assessment identified tens of thousands of Internally Displaced People (IDP) in Liwa and Daboua localities of Chad’s eastern Lac region. The IDPs had not been registered before due to insecurity limiting access to the host communities where they found refuge. According  to reports, the figures are currently being verified and  are likely to double the current  IDP population in the region, which stood at around 50,000.

Cameroon Tribune