Why 49,000 Nigerian children may die in 2016
Except some sort of aid is provided, about 49,000 Nigerian children could die of malnutrition in the country’s north eastern region.
These children are a fraction of the 475,000 said to be at risk of death in Chad, Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon, all countries sharing borders with Lake Chad.
Of the 475,000 deemed at risk, 49,000 in Nigeria’s Borno state, Boko Haram’s heartland, will die this year if they do not receive treatment, according to the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund, UNICEF.
The United Nations’ child agency is appealing for $308 million to provide the help these children desperately needs.
But it has been able to raise only $41 million, a paltry 13 per cent of the total sum.
Although the Nigerian government has made significant progress in displacing the Islamist militant group in the region, the same cannot be said of the care available to the millions of displaced persons who are now vulnerable.
