About 6,000 Flee Boko Haram Crisis To Niger Republic!

According to a United Nation's report, no fewer than 6,000 people ,mostly  women, children and elderly, displaced following the military onslaught against members of  Islamist militant sects,  Boko Haram and the al Qaeda-linked Ansaru,  in Northern Nigerian villages have fled to neighboring  Niger Republic.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, also  known as the UN Refugee Agency,  made this known in a report  it  presented in  New York, United States, recently by  its  spokesperson, Mr Adrian Edwards.

The report stated that, “Those who spoke to UNHCR say they escaped for fear of being caught in the government-led crackdown,”.

Edward who read the report, added that the presence of the Nigerian refugees in Niger Republic was  “putting a strain on meager local food and water resources” on the country which  “struggles with food insecurity due to years of drought.”

According to Edward, the “refugees  are either renting houses or staying with host families, who are themselves living in very precarious conditions.”

Edward stated that a UNHCR staff member who  visited several border villages hosting  the refugees met some Nigerian families living out in the open  and some under trees.

He further disclosed that the agency would help the Nigerien authorities to register the refugees, and that plans are under-way to deliver relief to the refugees and their   host communities. The report revealed that in the past few weeks, about 240  additional refugees, comprising Niger nationals and people from other nationalities, equally fled Nigeria to Niger,  while some of them fled to Cameroon and Chad; two countries that also share boundaries with Nigeria.

The report  also  stated that the Nigerian  “refugees reported that air strikes by government forces are continuing from time to time, and that planes are regularly flying over the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa where a  state of emergency has been in force since May 14.”

Adding that, “People arriving in Niger also mentioned the increasing presence of roving armed bandits in several states in Nigeria. The people also spoke of rising commodity prices coupled with pre-existing food insecurity which is also becoming  a major concern for the populations of the affected states.”

Nigerian forces are engaged in a  four- week-old operation to regain territory from Boko Haram fighters. They had  destroyed key Boko Haram bases and arrested more than 150 suspected insurgents in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.

Although the military was not immediately available for comment, Defence Headquarters Spokesman,  Brig -Gen. Chris Olukolade, in a recent statement,  denied a report that Nigerian refugees were “pouring into” Niger.

This contradiction came as  the National Emergency Management Agency  said it was responding to the humanitarian needs of the displaced Nigerians in Niger Republic to alleviate their living conditions. NEMA  said the basic needs  were identified by a special assessment carried out by its team  that was dispatched to Niger Republic to ascertain the conditions of Nigerians that had crossed over the border into the country. 

Meanwhile, during a recent courtesy visit to Nigeria's Minister of State for Defence, Mrs. Olusola Obada in Abuja, Special Representative of the UN Secretary- General  for West Africa,  Mr. Said Djinnit, who is also the Chairman, Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, observed that the threat of extremism and terrorism is affecting all West African countries and the Africa continent in general and tasked West African countries  to collaborate and tackle terrorism in the sub-region.

Djinnit said the visit was to explore how he could work closely with ECOWAS and its leaders in stabilizing the West Africa region and creating conditions for peace: “The threat of extremism or terrorism is affecting all  the  countries in West Africa and  Africa in general. So there is need for a general effort. This should be a national effort, though Nigeria is putting its own effort but we need to mobilise the entire region to work together to address the root cause of the problem, address the concern and challenge in a coordinated manner within the framework of the existing plan of action with ECOWAS, African Union and the UN.” He said.

Djinnt advised that Nigeria should take into account, the issue of Human Rights, which he believed the government was aware of, in responding to the challenge  of ensuring safety of its citizens. He commended the Nigerian government for its role in the fight against piracy the Gulf of Guinea.

The President of the Czech Parliament, Mr.  Milan. Stech, sympathized with the Nigerian government over Boko Haram insurgents attacks.