Some displaced persons from Boko Haram hit areas of Nigeria in a UN camp

Hundreds of displaced people, especially children in  Bama, one of the town recently liberated from Boko Haram in Borno State, North East Nigeria are now confronted with mass starvation following the decision of  United Nations to suspend  aid deliveries to the area.

UN said its decision to suspend “delivering desperately needed humanitarian assistance,” followed attack on its convoy on Thursday as it returned to Maiduguri from delivering aid in Bama.

A UNICEF employee and an International Organization for Migration contractor were injured in the attack.

“Today unknown assailants attacked a humanitarian convoy that included staff from UNICEF, UNFPA and IOM. The convoy was traveling from Bama to Maiduguri in Borno State, Nigeria, returning from delivering desperately needed humanitarian assistance.

“UNICEF can confirm that a UNICEF employee and an IOM contractor were injured in the attack and are being treated at a local hospital.  All other UNICEF, IOM and UNFPA staff are safe.

“The convoy was in a remote area of northeastern Nigeria, where protracted conflict has caused extreme suffering and has triggered a severe malnutrition crisis.

“This was not only an attack on humanitarian workers.  It is an attack on the people who most need the assistance and aid that these workers were bringing.

“The United Nations has temporarily suspended humanitarian assistance missions pending review of the security situation,” it added.

The Nigerian Army had in an earlier statement indicated that the attack on the humanitarian convoy was carried out by members of Boko Haram insurgents.

Army spokesperson, Col. Sani Usman said in a statement late Thursday that the attack which occurred  in Meleri village, a few kilometres from Kawuri, was however successfully cleared by the gallant troops.

“Unfortunately, 2 soldiers and 3 civilians were wounded in the ambush, among who were staff of United Nations agencies and other international humanitarian organizations.

An international charity group, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), had, last month, said that the condition of the Internally Displaced Persons in Bama camp, where 24, 0000 are living, is a catastrophic humanitarian emergency.

According to the group, nearly 200 refugees who fled Boko Haram attacks, have died of starvation and dehydration.

“Some 134 children on average will die every day from causes linked to acute malnutrition if the response is not scaled up quickly,”  Unicef’s Regional Director for Western and Central Africa, Manuel Fontaine.

“We need all partners and donors to step forward to prevent any more children from dying. No-one can take on a crisis of this scale alone.”

MSF said in June that a “catastrophic humanitarian emergency” was unfolding at a camp in Bama where 24,000 people had taken refuge.
Many inhabitants were traumatised and one in five children was suffering from acute malnutrition, it said.

Unicef has also disclosed that about a quarter of a million displaced children in Borno State are suffering from severe malnutrition.

The agency said it found people without water, food or sanitation in areas formerly in control of the Boko Haram terrorists, warning that tens of thousands of them may die if not urgently treated.