The UN reported that humanitarian partners would only reach about 300,000 of the 4.3 million people in need of food assistance in the North East if nothing was done to address the situation immediately; otherwise they will not receive help on time.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released a statement on Thursday, saying, “To prevent a widespread hunger and malnutrition crisis in north-east Nigeria from turning fully catastrophic $396 million is urgently needed to scale up humanitarian action in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

“More than half a million people may face emergency levels of food insecurity, with extremely high rates of acute malnutrition and cases of mortality if there is no rapid and significant scale-up of humanitarian assistance.

It is estimated that two million children less than five years old living in the three states will face wasting this year.

UN noted “This is the most immediate and life-threatening form of malnutrition. 

In a statement to the media, Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria Matthias Schmale said the situation should not be faced by anyone and that it could become reality for millions if resources aren't urgently mobilized.

Schmale was quoted to have said “I have seen firsthand the anguish of mothers fighting for the lives of their malnourished infants in our partner-run stabilization centres. This is a situation no one should have to face.

“I have spoken with children who described going for days without eating enough. Mothers who said their children go to bed crying from hunger. Families struggling to feed their families as they have gone for months  without receiving food assistance.”

The statement revealed that the World Food Programme is scaling up its operations to assist 2.1 million people with emergency food and nutrition supplies, noting that the United Nations Children’s Fund and nutrition partners aim to provide life-saving nutrition services to over one million malnourished children, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women with the Food and Agriculture Organisation planning to reach two million people with seed packages to secure cereal production for the upcoming harvest.