Another 780,000 in the same area, as well as in two neighboring states are also living in difficult conditions with the second highest level of food insecurity. Nearly 4 million individuals in the north-eastern Nigeria require food assistance, since they are constantly living in the conflict-torn districts.
Hundreds of thousands fled to the Borno state capital of Maiduguri during the peak of the internal conflict in 2014 and have regularly been provided with aid, since humanitarian services have full access to the Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camps and settlements. However, those who are not able to move to relatively safe areas are still at a great risk, according to the newspaper.
Northeastern Nigeria has been mired in a conflict since 2009, when the Boko Haram extremist group began large-scale attacks in the region, seeking to impose strict Sharia law.
According to the Global Terrorism Index, Boko Haram became the most deadly terrorist group in the world in 2014. Deaths attributed to the extremists increased by 317 percent in 2014 to 6,644.