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MSF: One out of every four children in Shinkafi and Zurmi malnourished.
MSF: One out of every four children in Shinkafi and Zurmi malnourished.
By: Michael Mike
One out of every four children under the age of five is malnourished in the Shinkafi and Zurmi areas of Zamfara state, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Ministry of Health have said.
A statement on Thursday by MSF otherwise called Doctors Without Borders, said according to a mass screening conducted in June by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Ministry of Health. Of the 97,149 children screened in 21 different urban and rural locations, 27 percent were found to be suffering from acute malnutrition, with five percent having severe acute malnutrition.
The statement added that: “These concerning figures far exceed the ‘critical level’ threshold established by the World Health Organisation (WHO) regarding malnutrition prevalence. MSF urges health authorities, international organisations, and donors to immediately intensify their efforts to tackle the escalating malnutrition crisis in Zamfara state, as well as whole of Northwest Nigeria – a region not yet included in the United Nations Humanitarian Response Plan.
“The mass screening held in June in the Shinkafi and Zurmi areas further revealed that about 22 per cent of children screened aremoderately malnourished. Currently, the nutritional suppliesessential to treat such children, also known as ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), are unavailable, as UNICEF halted its supplies at the start of the year. This current lack of humanitarian response to treat those who are moderately malnourished in Northwest Nigeria risks the lives of these children who, without immediate care, will progress to severe acute malnutrition that threatens their survival and compromisestheir long-term health.”
Abdullahi Mohammad, an MSF representative in Nigeria, said: “The screening results from Shinkafi and Zurmi are nothing short of alarming, revealing a catastrophic malnutrition crisis across Northwest Nigeria,” declaring that: “The response to this overwhelming disaster is grossly insufficient. With malnutrition rates soaring beyond critical levels and no immediate treatment available for moderate acute malnutrition apart from at MSF facilities, we’re effectively letting more children fall into life-threatening conditions. It is crucial we ensure every child receives the medical care they desperately need.”
The statement said MSF currently runs four inpatient and 17 outpatient facilities in Shinkafi, Zurmi, Gummi and Talata Mafara in Zamfara – a state badly affected by malnutrition, noting that across all four inpatient facilities, MSF teams have treated over 7,000 children from January to July 2024. These figures for admissions are 34 per cent higher than for the same period in 2023. In Shinkafi and Zurmi, where MSF conducted the recent malnutrition screening, the increase in admissions is 50 per cent more than the same period last year. At the medical facility in Gummi, admissions in July 2024 were almost double compared to the same month last year.
Alongside the significant increase in malnutrition admissions, MSF teams are seeing high numbers of children with vaccine preventable diseases such as measles. In Zamfara, they have treated at least 5,700 measles cases so far this year. Infectious diseases like measles, malaria, and acute watery diarrhoea, severely compromise the nutritional status of children. In turn, malnutrition makes them far more susceptible to these illnesses, with a higher risk of death.
“When I first brought my son into the hospital, I didn’t know if he would survive,” says Hafsat Lawal, a mother whose child is beingtreated for malnutrition at an MSF facility in Zamfara. “Back at home because of the insecurity we don’t have food. The prices of food have more than doubled. If we had money, we would have bought some grains, but we cannot.”
Communities are facing high levels of violence in Zamfara and have told MSF teams that they are scared to move around the state, taking huge risks to reach functioning healthcare facilities.It is estimated by the health authorities that as of 2023, only about 200 out of 700 healthcare centres in Zamfara are accessible, and the rest are non-functional. One of the reasons being that healthcare workers struggle to reach them.
Despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis and facing high levels of insecurity, communities in the Northwest have long been excluded from coordinated humanitarian response. It is essential that health authorities in this area, alongside international organisations and donors, urgently scale up their response.Immediate expansion of health facilities is needed to treat malnourished children to ensure that more hospitals can offer the type of inpatient care desperately needed to save lives. Moreover, UNICEF, as the primary supplier of RUTF, must ensure the consistent and sufficient delivery of these essential therapeutic foods to prevent more children from falling victim to this crisis.
MSF: One out of every four children in Shinkafi and Zurmi malnourished.
NDLEA intercepts cocaine in Saudi-bound religious books
By: Michael Mike
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a shipment of cocaine concealed in 20 sets of religious books going to Saudi Arabia.
The spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi in a statement on Sunday said the cocaine consignment consisting of 20 parcels with a total weight of 500 grammes and buried in the pages of the religious books was uncovered at a courier company in Lagos last Tuesday when NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) were searching through export cargos going to Saudi Arabia at the logistics firm.
Babafemi said at another courier company same day, NDLEA officers intercepted five parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 2.8 kilogrammes hidden in a carton coming from the United States of America.
In Kano, a 22-year-old alleged supplier of illicit substances to bandits, Muhammad Mohammed, has been arrested by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Bichi – Kano road while heading to Katsina with 277 ampoules of pentazocine injection tied to his thigh and private part with Sellotape.
He was intercepted on Sunday 13th April, while another suspect, Mohammed Abdulrahman Abdulaziz, 43, was nabbed same day at Research Rimin Kebe area of Nasarawa, Kano with 68 blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 30 kilogrammes.
He said not less than 557.2 kilogrammes of skunk, 5.6 kilogrammes of methamphetamine and 29.8 grammes of heroin were recovered from a house along Major General Isaiah Alllison Street, Opolo, Yenagoa, Bayelsa state where four suspects were arrested when NDLEA operatives raided the premises last Wednesday
Babafemi said the four suspects arrested during the raid include: Sarimiye Suwa, 46; Roland Prosper, 34; Sarimiye Tare, 45; and Fidelis Ugbesla, 46, while a total of 1,100 kilogrammes of skunk were recovered from a delivery van with the driver, Ismail Abdullahi arrested in Surulere area of Lagos last Thursday.
In Kaduna, NDLEA operatives last Friday raided the hideout of a suspect, Ike Ani, 30, in Zaria, where no fewer than 31,950 pills of tramadol 225mg and diazepam were recovered, and in Kebbi, along Bagudo road on the same day a vehicle loaded with bags of charcoal coming from Malabil, Benin Republic was intercepted, when the vehicle was search, 97 kilogrammes of skunk concealed in the sacks of charcoal was recovered.
. Three suspects: Abubakar Ibrahim, 50; Mustapha Aliyu, 32; and Bashar Lawali, 28, were arrested in connection with the seizure.
A 48-year-old Okafor Marcel was nabbed with 11.5 kilogrammes skunk at Abatete, Anambra state while NDLEA operatives in Osogbo, Osun state last Tuesday arrested Ajala Mercy, 27, with 43 litres of skushi, a mixture of black currant, cannabis and opioids recovered from her room at Dada estate, Halleluyah area of the state capital.
Babafemi said two cannabis farms in Egbeta forest, Ovia North East LGA, Edo state were raided by NDLEA operatives who destroyed 3,717.8625 kilogrammes of the psychoactive plant on 1.487145 hectares and recovered 136.5 kilogrammes of processed cannabis.
At the Tincan seaport in Lagos, a suspect Basorun Kayode, 40, who has been at large for two years was arrested by NDLEA officers in connection with the seizure of 107 kilogrammes Loud imported from Canada in 2023, while another suspect, Dauda Yakubu who distributes illicit drugs within the seaport community was arrested by a team of operatives last Monday.
The spokesman said the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA commands equally continued across the country in the past week.
Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) while commending the officers and men of DOGI, Kano, Lagos, Kaduna, Kebbi, Osun, Zone 13, Edo and Tin-can commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, equally praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for ensuring a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
NDLEA intercepts cocaine in Saudi-bound religious books
Fire Guts Water Board IDP Camp in Monguno, Borno
By: Zagazola Makama
A devastating fire broke out at the Water Board IDP Camp in Monguno Local Government Area (LGA) on April 19, 2025, destroying approximately one hundred thatch and makeshift houses.
Eye witnesses said that the fire started at around 1040hrs and rapidly spread across the settlement, burning household items, foodstuffs, and other valuable properties to ashes.
The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, and the value of the property destroyed is still being assessed.
Humanitarian officials were immediately deployed to the scene to maintain crowd control and prevent looting, while firefighters, alongside camp residents, worked tirelessly to extinguish the flames.
Fortunately, no casualties or loss of life were reported.
Fire Guts Water Board IDP Camp in Monguno, Borno
Terrorists Snatch Vehicle in Monguno, Borno
By: Zagazola Makama
Armed assailants suspected to be members of ISWAP/Boko Haram attacked and snatched a vehicle in Monguno Local Government Area (LGA) on April 18, 2025, at about 1400hrs.
Saleh Haun, a resident of the Water Board IDP Camp in Monguno, reported that while he was at the Gumnari Bush Area in Monguno, four armed gunmen, riding on two motorcycles, accosted him.
The assailants, at gunpoint, seized his white Toyota Land Cruiser, before fleeing with the vehicle to an unknown location.
A Military Forward Operating Base (FOB) has been alerted, and efforts are underway to to track the assailant and recover the stolen vehicle.
Terrorists Snatch Vehicle in Monguno, Borno
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