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Nigeria

Nigeria: Facts & Figures 2017

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Nigeria in Perspective: Meeting Evolving Humanitarian Needs

Now in its ninth year, the armed conflict in north-east Nigeria has had devastating humanitarian consequences for millions of people across the Lake Chad region. More than two million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes since the start of the conflict and desperately need food, water, access to health, shelter, and above all, safety and finding their loved ones. The conflict has had a particular impact on food security, with more than five million people in need of food aid. The risk of malnutrition was exacerbated by cholera outbreaks in 2017. At the same time, one million displaced Nigerians returned to their communities, where they faced destruction to their properties and livelihoods and continued to be reliant on humanitarian assistance.

In the middle belt of central Nigeria, continued clashes between farmers and herdsmen displaced more than 130,000 people from Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa, and Taraba states alone. The Niger Delta witnessed returns from Nigerian refugees and migrants in need of assistance as well as communal clashes and violence. Nigeria was the fifth largest ICRC operation globally in 2017. Throughout the year, the ICRC worked with the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) and communities towards meeting basic needs for assistance and protection of vulnerable populations affected by the armed conflict or other situations of violence. Whenever possible, we replaced direct assistance with programmes aiming to help people earn their own income and become self-reliant. For that, we formed partnerships with the private sector, went crowd-sourcing for innovative ideas to strengthen resilience of affected communities, and coordinated with Nigerian and international humanitarian agencies. In designing our humanitarian response, we take into account priority needs and wishes of the communities.

By providing aid relief, livelihood assistance, and training we reached over 1,152,000 people in Nigeria’s North East and middle belt regions. Together with other Red Cross societies in the Lake Chad region, we searched for more than 13,200 people on behalf of their families. In May, we facilitated the hand-over of 82 released “Chibok girls” upon the request of both the Government of Nigeria and the armed group that had held them, without taking part in negotiations that led to their release.

Highlights of our work in 2017

  • 450,000 people in the North-East and Middle Belt received food for three months or longer
  • 500,200 returnees and residents isolated in conflict areas received seeds, machinery, & tools for farming
  • 130,500 people, including widows, received cash and basic training on small businesses
  • More than 581,300 patients including 55,400 children attended 25 ICRC-supported primary health care centres and 4 mobile clinics
  • 17,300 casualties were treated and evacuated by the Nigerian Red Cross Society first aid teams
  • Over 860,000 displaced persons, returnees, and residents gained access to clean water