OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW

Now in its ninth year, the humanitarian crisis in north-east Nigeria remains one of the most severe in the world: 1.6 million persons are internally displaced, human rights violations continue to be reported daily, and the food security and nutrition situation remains extremely concerning as conflict continues to limit the amount of land under cultivation and as the lean season (May through September) is about to kick off. The new Cadre Harmonisé analysis – which provides an updated understanding of the food security and nutrition situation – was issued, revealing that the number of people estimated to be facing critical and crisis food and nutrition insecurity levels (IPC 3 and 4) in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe stands at 2.3 million for March-May and up to 3 million projected for June-August.
Large-scale population movements, caused largely by insecurity, continued with 21,807 new arrivals in March alone. This represents a sharp increase of 75 per cent compared to February and poses major humanitarian challenges as resources are often already overstretched in the locations in which these civilians arrive. With hostilities ongoing, these trends are likely to continue at least until the rainy season starts in May/June. On 24 March, the Government of Nigeria opened the Maiduguri-Bama-Banki road, in Borno State, to civilian traffic, triggering thousands of population movements along this axis.