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News > Nigeria

30,000 Flee Nigeria Amid Fear of Boko Haram Attack: UNHCR

  • Boko Haram insurgents have waged a decade-long war on northern Nigeria.

    Boko Haram insurgents have waged a decade-long war on northern Nigeria. | Photo: Reuters file

Published 30 January 2019
Opinion

People from the northern Borno state of Rann seem “to be panicking and they are on the run as a pre-emptive measure to save their lives," the UNHCR spokesman said.

The fear of new attacks from militant group Boko Haram has forced some 30,000 people to flee a northern Nigerian town and cross the border into Cameroon over the weekend, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 

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"The [nationwide] hostilities have strained humanitarian operations there (Nigeria) and forced aid workers to pull out from some locations," UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch shared.

The people of the northern Borno state Rann seem “to be panicking and they are on the run as a pre-emptive measure to save their lives," the UNHCR spokesman told reporters Tuesday.

A spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, Jens Laerke, added that 260 aid workers have been withdrawn, from three locations in Borno state, since early December.

Earlier this month, 9,000 residents of the town fled to Cameroon following a January 14 attack by the al-Qaida-influenced group, which claimed the lives of more than one dozen people.

Baloch said Cameroon repatriated the 9,000 refugees as well as sent troops.

"It was a bit peaceful, but as far as we understand now, that multinational taskforce has left," the spokesman assured although refugees told aid workers that the Boko Haram fighters had "promised to return to Rann."

Baloch said "the escalation in the conflict has thwarted people's intention of returning to their homes," resulting in internal and external displacement.

More than 250,000 people have been displaced from northeast Nigeria, the United Nations stated.

The agency said it would need some US$848 million to provide food and assistance to those who have been affected by the crisis in Nigeria.

Boko Haram insurgents have waged a decade-long war on northern Nigeria.

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