The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) yesterday said over 2.1 million people are internally displaced in the northeast following an upsurge in Boko Haram insurgency, thereby revising its previous figure of 1.5 million.
Over 1,000 people have died in Boko Haram attacks since President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in on May 29. The IOM said the new figure released in Abuja covered Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states, as well as Nasarawa State and Abuja.
The increase can be attributed to the intensification of attacks carried out by the insurgents, as well as to improved access to previously inaccessible areas of Borno State, where the IDP population is now well over 1.6 million,” it said.
The IOM said the majority of those displaced by the violence (92 per cent) now live in host communities, while the remainder live in camps or camp-like sites, adding that the victims were in dire need of food and shelter. “Many IDPs, especially in host communities, have yet to receive basic items, including food and shelter,” IOM Nigeria Chief of Mission, Enira Krdzalic said.
It is very important for the authorities and humanitarian partners to speed up the delivery of adequate assistance to these people,” she added.
