8.3M people in northeast Nigeria need humanitarian aid: UN

By Olarewaju Kola

ABUJA, Nigeria (AA) - Around 8.3 million people, including women and children, need humanitarian support in northeast Nigeria, which has been affected by 12 years of terrorist attacks, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Wednesday.

There is no sign that the protracted violence in the region, which has been orchestrated by the Boko Haram terrorist group, will subside, OCHA said in a tweet.

"After 12 years, the crisis in northeast #Nigeria shows no sign of abating," it said.

UN Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said the need for urgent humanitarian assistance prompted him to lead a team of aid workers Wednesday from the UN and its partners to Borno State, the heartland of the violence.

"Our partnership for support is something which we do out of duty and responsibility within this case," he said in Borno’s capital Maiduguri.

Boko Haram, which seeks to carve out a territory in northern states, has claimed responsibility for most of the violent attacks in the area.​​​​​​​

An estimated 3 million civilians have been displaced since 2009 when the violence started.