Society

Over 3,700 persons displaced in Far North in January - UN.

by Mboro Mesumbe Bwang
24 Mar 2024 19:11
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File photo of displaced children, women in Far North

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UN OCHA, has disclosed that some 3,705 persons among them women and children were displaced in January 2024 in the Far North Region.
The organisation released the data in a recent report.

It blamed the displacements on violent incidents recorded in the Lake Chad Basin area that covers parts of Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad.

According to the report, violent incidents escalated in several localities during the first month of this year. The situation, OCHA said, forced the population to take cover in safer places. In the Far North Region, the report identified Mayo-Sava, Mayo-Tsanaga, and Logone and Chari divisions as those hardest hit by the situation.

According to OCHA, humanitarian partners have delivered emergency aid to the displaced populations. The relief, the organisation said, included; shelter, food, non-food items, water, sanitation, hygiene, education, health, and nutrition services through the Rapid Response Mechanism, RRM.

The report equally saluted the combined efforts put in place by the government and its humanitarian, and development partners.

Despite the efforts, the organisation upholds that the Far North Region remains a great concern as violence followed by persistent attacks from suspected Boko Haram agents have continued to force many out of their homes. The situation, the report also said, is affecting the well-being and living conditions of the population.

According to earlier reports, non-state armed groups attacked several villages in the Far North Region resulting in 22 civilian deaths. 12 persons are said to have been injured with over 20 others abducted.

The attacks, the same report had indicated, equally resulted in looting, several houses burnt down and properties damaged.

On December 31, 2023, OCHA estimated that over 450,000 people were displaced in the Far North Region. The Harmonised Framework analysis of OCHA for October to December 2023, indicated that 826,000 people in the Region then, were grappling with acute food insecurity.

The Far North Region has for long been facing insecurity, violence, and the escalating effects of climate change. It is also further facing difficulties related to the outbreak of epidemics such as cholera, measles, and polio.

These, experts say, poses additional health risks to the population and increases the Region’s fragility.