LAGOS: Thousands of men, women and children made homeless by the Boko Haram insurgency risk disease because of lack of shelter as the rainy season hits northeast Nigeria, aid workers said Tuesday.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said more than 4,000 people were having to sleep in the open in the town of Dikwa, where they have fled military operations against the jihadists.
Nigeria, which maintains the militants are virtually defeated, is encouraging internally displaced people (IDPs) to return to their homes, as troops wind up operations.
But humanitarian organizations say towns outside the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, do not yet have the minimum standards of basic services to cope with an influx of so many people.
NRC’s Nigeria director Cheick Ba said they were “extremely concerned” by the situation in Dikwa, some 92 kilometers (57 miles) east of Maiduguri.
“Children are sleeping outside with nothing over their heads. With the rains now hitting the area, they risk becoming sick with malaria, diarrhea or typhoid,” he said in a statement.
By the end of May, there were 1.7 million IDPs in Borno state and neighboring Yobe and Adamawa, the UN said last week.
But “large-scale displacements” were happening every week as a result of increased fighting this year. In May, 21,207 people arrived in five towns in Borno state, including Dikwa.
Resources were stretched and $41.7 million was needed to provide life-saving assistance to some 115,000 IDPs who are expected to move in the coming months, it added.
The NRC said aid agencies were “overwhelmed” and hundreds of IDPs had arrived in Dikwa since April because of fighting between the military and Boko Haram in surrounding areas.
More than 600 people awaiting military screening were staying in an unused petrol station which has no roof; 4,000 others who have been screened were at a reception center.
But the center was “full to the brink,” forcing families to sleep in the open. Women were crammed into single rooms while men outside was a common sight, the agency added.
The need for emergency shelter was immediate, as IDPs had also taken over four local schools while the military was using another as a base.
There was no immediate response from Nigeria’s defense spokesman when contacted by AFP but a local government official in Dikwa confirmed the situation.
“They sleep in the open and with the start of the rainy season, their situation is dire,” he said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Among the 4,000 are some 1,500 people who were recently brought from Maiduguri after being rescued from Boko Haram. The remainder saw their tents destroyed by a windstorm last month.
“They need urgent support otherwise they will have to live in the open for as long as the rainy season lasts, which is three months at least,” he added.
“The affected IDPs are mostly families with children. The children are at risk of sickness, particularly cold, pneumonia and other cold-related ailments.”
