China
08:30, 20-Jun-2017
Up to half of Nigeria food aid for Boko Haram victims not delivered
[]
Share
Copied
By CGTN Africa
Up to half of the food aid meant for people displaced by Nigeria’s Islamist insurgency has reportedly not been delivered, the government said.
The government termed the situation as a “diversion of relief materials,” which is thought to mean the aid was stolen.
A statement from the acting president’s office added that security was being beefed up to protect the deliveries.
Islamist militant group Boko Haram has waged war in Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands and forcing more than two million to flee their homes.
A screengrab taken on May 12, 2014, from a video of Boko Haram obtained by AFP, shows kidnapped Nigerian girls wearing the full-length hijab and praying in an undisclosed rural location. /VCG Photo
A screengrab taken on May 12, 2014, from a video of Boko Haram obtained by AFP, shows kidnapped Nigerian girls wearing the full-length hijab and praying in an undisclosed rural location. /VCG Photo
The situation has been worsened by poor rainfall in West Africa, meaning about 8.5 million Nigerians, mostly in the northeast, need lifesaving aid.
In the latest suspected Boko Haram attack on Sunday, 12 people were killed by five suicide bombers in a village near Maiduguri, capital of Borno state.
The statement from Acting President Yemi Osinbajo said aid going missing had “dogged food delivery” and then cited reports saying that more than 50 trucks out of every 100 sent to the northeast never reach their destination.
It does not say what has happened to the diverted food, but in May two Nigerian officials were jailed for selling food aid.
10277km