NGO urges more support in tackling humanitarian crisis in N/East

The Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) has renewed its call on the federal government and private concerns in Nigeria for more interventions to address the nagging humanitarian crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East.

Senior Programme Coordinator of WRAPA, Mrs. Anisa Ari, made the call in an interview on Wednesday in Abuja.

Ari said that a decade of non-stop insurgency in the area has resulted to huge humanitarian crisis which requires strong commitment by both government and private concerns to tackle.

“This is a call to government and relevant state and non-state actors to live beyond rhetoric and be action based.

“Ten years of protracted insurgency has resulted to the loss of a huge mass of people; thousands of people have been killed while others have lost human dignity and hope for the future.

“It is estimated that about 35,000 people have been killed since 2009, 1.8 million are internally displaced while 7.1 million people are in dire need of humanitarian support.

“This situation cuts across three North Eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa,’’ she said.

Ari said that hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have also scampered to safety in some neighbouring countries.

She complained about abuse of innocent women and girls by some officials who are meant to protect them, while calling on the authorities to take immediate and practical steps to ameliorate the situation.

“As we speak about 230, 000 Nigerians have fled to neighbouring countries like Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Borno remains the epicentre of this conflict, with gross human rights violations.

“Women and girls continue to be abused by officials who are meant to protect them, with most of them suffering involuntary pregnancy, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and social stigmatisation. Enough is enough,’’ she said.