Nearly 1.8Mln People Displaced Across Nigeria Amid Insurgent-Driven Violence

International Organization for Migration (IOM) identified 1,770,444 people as displaced across Nigeria through its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), according to official statement.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Over 1.7 million people have been identified as internally displaced across Nigeria despite a decline in displacement figures, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated on Tuesday.

"IOM has identified 1,770,444 people as displaced across Nigeria through its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM). This is a decrease from the 1,822,541 recorded in late October, reflecting the continuing trend of internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning home, particularly in Borno State," the organization said in a press release.

IOM found that over one million people in North-East Nigeria had returned to their homes since August 2015. However, many are still "living in camps and host communities across the region."

IOM DTM project officer Henry Kwenin stressed that, "the need for food is increasing among the IDPs we surveyed. It is the biggest unmet need of 66 percent of the IDPs."

Borno State hosts most of the IDPs, as well as Adamawa and Yobe, the organization added.

A lot of Nigerians leave their homes, and even their country of origin, because of the activities of the Boko Haram extremist group, which began large-scale attacks in northeastern Nigeria in 2009. Last year, the group expanded its attacks into neighboring Niger, Cameroon and Chad. The group has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS, outlawed in Russia and many other countries).

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