According to the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the Boko Haram insurgency in the north eastern part of Nigeria has caused 1.4 million children to flee their homes.
UNICEF said this in a statement released to newsmen on Friday.
The statement stated that: “In northern Nigeria alone, nearly 1.2 million children – over half of them under 5 years old – have been forced to flee their homes. An additional 265,000 children have been uprooted in Cameroon, Chad and Niger.”
It further revealed that a sharp increase in the spate of terror attacks by Boko Haram has left around 500,000 children displaced in the last five months.
The Boko Haram insurgency which started in 2009 has claimed tens of thousands and displaced several millions of people, mostly children, in the West African region.
Furthermore, UNICEF said it has encountered funding problems after receiving only 32 per cent of the $50.3 million required this year for its humanitarian response across the Lake Chad region, creating a shortfall in measles vaccinations and other aid.