Key points
- Nearly 35 million Nigerians projected to face severe food insecurity.
- Borno state expects 15,000 people reaching catastrophic hunger levels.
- Sixteen-year conflict killed over 40,000 and displaced millions nationwide.
- Nigeria also battles widespread bandit violence and frequent mass kidnappings.
LAGOS, Nigeria: Resurgent militants’ attacks and instability in northern Nigeria are pushing hunger “to levels never seen before”, with thousands facing “famine-like conditions”, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.
Nearly 35 million people in northern Nigeria are “projected to face severe food insecurity during the 2026 lean season”, which stretches from May to September, the UN agency said in a statement.
In Borno state, the epicentre of the 16-year-long militants insurgency, around 15,000 people “are projected to reach catastrophic hunger” or “famine-like conditions”, WFP said in a statement.
The conflict has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million others in the northeast and spilled into neighbouring countries.
Killed people and kidnap for ransom
Besides Boko Haram in the northeast, Nigeria also suffers violence led by “bandit” gangs in the centre and northwest, which raid villages, kill people and kidnap for ransom.
Last week alone, Africa’s most populous country experienced three mass kidnappings.
More than 300 students and teachers from a Catholic school were abducted in Niger state, 25 Muslim high school girls were snatched in neighbouring Kebbi state, and 38 worshippers were taken from a church during a service that was livestreamed in Kwara State.
