Internationally renowned charity group, doctors without borders, MSF says that about 200 refugees fleeing Boko Haram militants have starved to death over the past month in Bama, Borno State.
The MSF says that a catastrophic humanitarian emergency is unfolding at a camp it visited where 24,000 people have taken refuge.
The group added that many inhabitants are traumatised and one in five children is suffering from acute malnutrition.
MSF head of mission in Nigeria, Aid Ghada Hatim said, “Bama is largely closed off. We have been told that people there, including children, have starved to death.
“According to the accounts given to MSF by displaced people in Bama, new graves are appearing on a daily basis. We were told on certain days more than 30 people were dying due to hunger and illness.”
During its assessment, the MSF team said it counted 1,233 cemetery graves located near the camp which had been dug in the past year.
Of those graves, 480 were for children.
The group says, “This is the first time MSF has been able to access Bama, but we already know the needs of the people there are beyond critical.”
Since 23 May, at least 188 people have died in the camp – almost six people per day – mainly from diarrhea and malnutrition.
Hatim added that the charity group is treating malnourished children in medical facilities in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
Meanwhile the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed the report.
The Northeast Zonal Coordinator of NEMA, Mr Mohammed Kannar, said that it is working with other aid agencies to ensure that the victims are effectively taken care of
