Surviving pain and fear: Women’s harrowing tales from camps in Benue, Nigeria

Violent clashes in northcentral Nigeria have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes in recent years. Many have settled in camps around Makurdi, the capital of Benue state. Living conditions in the camps are precarious and daily life is a struggle, particularly for women. After receiving reports of alarming levels of sexual violence … Read more

Nigeria: MSF raises alarm over escalating malnutrition crisis in northwest

Abuja, 03 July 2023 – A malnutrition crisis is escalating in northwest Nigeria, prompting international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to reinforce its activities while warning that the current humanitarian response is insufficient to avert a potential catastrophe in the coming months. MSF has opened three new outpatient therapeutic feeding centres, in … Read more

Nigeria: MSF raises alarm over escalating malnutrition crisis in the northwest

Abuja, 03 July 2023 – A malnutrition crisis is escalating in northwest Nigeria, prompting international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to reinforce its activities while warning that the current humanitarian response is insufficient to avert a potential catastrophe in the coming months. MSF has opened three new outpatient therapeutic feeding centres, in … Read more

“We see children dying on the way to our clinics”: MSF Country Representative in Nigeria

Dr. Simba Tirima, MSF Country Representative in Nigeria:  The past few months have been incredibly difficult for the people of northwest Nigeria and our teams have seen unprecedented high numbers of malnourished children in the medical facilities where we work in partnership with the Ministry of health.  This year alone, we have treated more than … Read more

Catastrophic malnutrition crisis in northwest Nigeria must be recognized

Abuja (27 September 2022): As the malnutrition crisis in northwest Nigeria continues at catastrophic levels, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling for the humanitarian community to respond to the emergency needs of people in the region, and for northwest Nigeria to be included in the UN’s humanitarian response plan, enabling a broader and more sustained … Read more

Out of sight: neglected malnutrition crisis threatens tens of thousands of children in northwest Nigeria

A growing, yet largely ignored, malnutrition crisis is unfolding in northwest Nigeria, which threatens the lives of tens of thousands of children, the medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières /Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned today. Since January, MSF teams, working in partnership with Nigerian health authorities in five northwestern states, have already treated more than … Read more

Nigeria: Prevention is key to stop children from dying of lead poisoning

More than 11 years after environmental contamination began causing the death of hundreds of children in Zamfara, northern Nigeria, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has handed over its lead poisoning project to state authorities, as children are no longer dying of lead poisoning in the area. In March 2010, our teams received an alert about a … Read more

Nigeria: Extra-long malaria season in Borno claims lives

Nigeria has some of the highest number of deaths from malaria worldwide. Usually, peak malaria season takes place during the rainy season from August to mid-October, when mosquitoes breed, after which patient numbers begin to decrease. This year, however, medical teams from Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) working in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state have witnessed a spike … Read more

Nigeria: “When I think about going home, I remind myself that a live dog is better than a dead lion”

Nigeria’s ‘middle belt’ states, Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa and Taraba, host the largest numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the country, outside of the northeast region. Most people have been uprooted by the so-called ‘farmer-herdsmen’ conflict. At least 160,000 displaced people are scattered across Benue state, according to 2019 estimates. [1] Here, displaced communities, mostly … Read more

Nigeria: MSF condemns the killing of five aid workers in northeast Nigeria

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is horrified to hear the news of the killings of five humanitarian aid workers in northeast Nigeria. The aid workers, who came from Action Against Hunger, the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), International Rescue Committee, Reach International, and a security guard protecting humanitarian facilities, were abducted last month. … Read more