Niger: Emergency aid for 2,400 people fleeing violence in Nigeria
| Publisher | International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) |
| Publication Date | 21 May 2013 |
| Cite as | International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Niger: Emergency aid for 2,400 people fleeing violence in Nigeria, 21 May 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/55cc72294.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Several hundred families fleeing violence in northern Nigeria and taking refuge in the Diffa area of south-eastern Niger are being provided with emergency supplies and food aid by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Red Cross Society of Niger.
Around 2,400 people in Bosso, Kablewa, Tchoukoujani and Diffa today began taking delivery of emergency aid consisting of 45 tonnes of rice, beans, cooking oil and salt, and of a stock of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, sleeping mats, blankets, buckets, cooking utensils and clothing, which will cover their most urgent needs for approximately one month.
"These people, most of whom are originally from Niger but settled in Nigeria some time back, in some cases decades ago, are completely destitute. They have been taken in by families that are sharing their meagre resources with them," said Jean-Nicolas Marti, head of the ICRC's regional delegation for Niger and Mali. "Their situation is very precarious, and they urgently need help."
The Diffa area, where the families have taken refuge, was the scene this year of severe flooding that resulted in a considerable shortfall in agricultural production. "If population displacement were to continue at the current pace, or to increase, there is a risk that the delicate economic and food balance in the area could be destroyed, with consequences for the resident population," said Mr Marti.
Since September of last year, the ICRC has been helping some 400 nomadic Fulani families who fled the violence and insecure environment of the Maiduguri area of Nigeria to settle at various sites in Diffa.
