Boko Haram: About 200 refugees fleeing attacks starve to death in Bama – MSF

An international charity group, Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF, has disclosed that about 200 refugees fleeing Boko Haram militants have died of hunger in Bama, Borno State.

The MSF says that a catastrophic humanitarian emergency is unfolding at a camp it visited where 24,000 people have taken refuge.

The group said that many inhabitants are traumatised and one in five children is suffering from acute malnutrition.

MSF head of mission in Nigeria, Aid Ghada Hatim said, “Bama is largely closed off. We have been told that people there, including children, have starved to death.

“According to the accounts given to MSF by displaced people in Bama, new graves are appearing on a daily basis. We were told on certain days more than 30 people were dying due to hunger and illness.”

The MSF team also said it counted 1,233 cemetery graves located near the camp which had been dug in the past year, disclosing that of those graves, 480 were for children.

The group added, “This is the first time MSF has been able to access Bama, but we already know the needs of the people there are beyond critical.”


Hatim added that the charity group is treating malnourished children in medical facilities in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) also confirmed the report.

The Northeast Zonal Coordinator of NEMA, Mohammed Kannar, said that it is working with other aid agencies to ensure that the victims are given a better lift.