HUMANITARIAN CRISIS: Famine in Nigeria Drives Thousands of Refugees to Benin
The humanitarian situation in northern Nigeria is deteriorating at an alarming rate. Between the explosion of violence and the collapse of international aid, hunger is now driving thousands of displaced people to cross the border seeking refuge in neighboring Benin.
Benin is feeling the full force of the Nigerian crisis. According to data from the World Food Programme (WFP) reported by RFI, more than 1,000 Nigerians received emergency humanitarian aid in Benin last month. This migratory flow is just the first sign of a major cross-border crisis, as resources dwindle on both sides of the border.
In the space of a year, the number of people facing severe food insecurity in northeastern Nigeria has surged by 700,000, reaching a critical figure of 6.2 million (an increase of nearly 13%).
Despite this explosion in needs, international aid has been cut by 50% due to budget reductions. The World Food Programme (WFP) has now classified nine states in northern Nigeria as being in a state of maximum alert.
In these regions, daily life is paralyzed by:
Repeated attacks by armed groups and mass kidnappings.
The forced abandonment of agricultural land, preventing any local production.
The widespread closure of health and nutrition centers due to lack of funding and security.
In the hardest-hit areas, the crisis has reached Phase 5 on the International Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the ultimate stage of famine.
Last-Ditch Choices
Deprived of assistance, populations are surviving at the risk of their lives. To feed their families, women are forced to leave the relative safety of the camps to gather firewood, thus exposing themselves to kidnapping and sexual violence. Even more alarming, the WFP reports that young people are agreeing to join armed groups for paltry wages, motivated solely by the desire for a daily ration.
✍️ By Joseph HOUNKPATIN
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