News / Nigeria

UN launches $174m appeal for refugees displaced by Boko Haram

Friday, 10 April 2015 7:30 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 10 April 2015 7:29 AM ]

A Nigerian refugee carries water to his tent, on April 7, 2015 at the Dar-es-Salam refugee camp near Baga Sola, Chad. ©AFP

The UN has launched an urgent funding appeal for nearly USD 175 million for thousands of Nigerians who have fled the Boko Haram terrorist group.

Twenty-three UN agencies and NGOs are involved in the appeal to combine USD 174.4 million for almost 200,000 Nigerians displaced by Takfiri militants’ violence to provide shelter, food, education and sanitation for them.

"Displaced people in northeastern Nigeria and across borders are in a very dramatic situation. They continue to fear for their lives, and are at this point unable to return to their homes," said Liz Ahua, West Africa representative for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Thursday.

“We need more financial support to continue to help the refugees and to plan for increased aid in case of more people fleeing for safety outside Nigeria,” the UN official added.

Newly arrived Nigerian refugees wait to register under a tent of the Red Cross, on April 7, 2015 in the Nigerian refugees camp in the Chad lake region in Chad. ©AFP

According to the UNHCR, some 192,000 people have fled over Nigeria's borders into Cameroon, Chad and Niger due to Boko Haram's acts of violence, with the UN body estimating that the number could rise to 240,000 by the end of the year.

In addition to the refugees, the UN says, more than 1.1 million people have also been displaced within northeast Nigeria.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” controls large parts of northeastern Nigeria. Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria are the four African countries which have been directly affected by the growing threat of Boko Haram in recent months.

More than 15,000 people have been killed and over a million made homeless as a result of Boko Haram violence since 2009. Countless children, women and men have been also abducted, abused and forcibly recruited.

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