NAIROBI — Thousands of Boko Haram victims are now on the verge of starvation in northeastern Nigeria, months after being rescued from the radical Islamist group, the aid group Doctors Without Borders said on Wednesday.
At a remote camp of 24,000 displaced people in the city of Bama, an average of six people have died per day, mostly from diarrhea and malnutrition, according to the organization, also known by its French name Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF. Many more are on the verge of starvation.
“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,” said Ghada Hatim, MSF head of mission in Nigeria.
The camp in Bama is one of many that now pepper northeastern Nigeria, where more than 2 million people are currently displaced. Many of their homes have been scorched by Boko Haram, which once controlled a huge swatch of the region before being forced to retreat by the Nigerian military.
