The Washington Times: Buji Abdullahi and his family managed to escape the deadly attack on his village by the militant Islamic group Boko Haram, but then he lost his young son to another scourge sweeping through the relief camps in northeastern Nigeria: a desperate lack of food.
In a land where people have endured more than their share of tragedy and loss in recent years, the specter of famine is posing a cruel new threat.
“I watched my 2-year-old son, Hashimu, die from hunger,” said Mr. Abdullahi. “It was sad, but there was nothing I could do to save him.”
His loss reflects a humanitarian catastrophe in the making in the country’s Borno State and other parts of the region where the Nigerian military has been battling the radicals.
The France-based Doctors Without Borders recently reported that hunger and malnutrition threaten hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people like Mr. Abdullahi and his family, who are taking refuge in camps in Borno State. In one camp in Bama, malnutrition and sickness claimed 200 deaths in a month, and a fifth of the children who remained were malnourished, the organization said.
“In several locations, people have sought refuge in towns or camps controlled by the military, and are entirely reliant on outside aid that does not reach them,” the group said in a statement. “The mortality rate is five times higher than what is considered an emergency, with the main cause being hunger.”
