More than 800,0000 people are at risk of starvation in Nigeria – European States

The European States said more than 800,000 people are facing starvation in north-east Nigeria over the inability of the United Nations to secure aid for the region.

In a letter seen by Reuters, the European States accused the United Nations of failing to press home the urgency of a disaster which had put children at risk of starvation in the region.

The letter addressed to directors of emergency programs at U.N. and other aid agencies, the EU, Britain, France and Germany, raised concern about urgent and unmet humanitarian needs in the north-east.

The European countries urged the U.N. Mission in Nigeria to push the government to allow "the rapid, unimpeded and unfettered humanitarian access to people in need of life-saving help."

Details of the letter:

- 823,000 people were in areas inaccessible to aid in Nigeria's Borno state.

- Children in the areas are facing critical levels of malnutrition.

- It rebuked the world body for failing to secure access to provide humanitarian support to the people.

- The letter also called on the government of Nigeria to uphold its responsibility and protect its citizens.

Nigeria's Borno state is the worst affected area by the decade-long insurgency by the Boko Haram Islamist group and its offshoot, Islamic State in West Africa.

In May 2018, Amnesty International also accused Nigerian security forces of raping thousands of starved women and girls who survived the brutal rule of the Boko Haram.

In its report, "They betrayed us", the International organisation revealed how the Nigerian military and Civilian Joint Task Force (Civilian JTF) have separated women from their husbands and confined them in remote “satellite camps” where raped them, sometimes in exchange for food.

The government and the Nigerian military denied the report.

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