About 3.6 million internally displaced persons (IDP) in the north-eastern part of Nigeria have received United Nations (UN) aid in the first half of the year. This was stated by Matthias Schmale, the (UN) resident and humanitarian coordinator in the country. He disclosed this at a conference on Tuesday in Lagos.
The conference which targeted members of the civil society organizations (CSOs) and journalists was hosted by the Africa Centre for Development Journalism (ACDJ). The UN coordinator remarked that it is necessary to give a high level of attention to the north-east for human aid and development.
He further said “We are already doing a lot of good work around the country, but we need to scale it up and invest considerably in humanitarian terms, notably in the north-east. We get criticized for being so focused on the north-east, although I think the data presented here today made it understandable why the zone does need to be an area of priority for development and humanitarian work.”
He added that “This year, in the three north-east states, we have already supported 3.6 million vulnerable people with essential humanitarian assistance in the first half of the year. We are very well aware of the considerable number of people across Nigeria who need assistance, and many are facing food insecurity.”
Rotimi Sankore, the Executive Director of ACDJ, appealed to journalists to make use of data in order to ensure accountability for the government.
