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“Malnutrition is not just a short-term emergency — it’s a lifelong struggle for many children.”

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“Malnutrition is not just a short-term emergency — it’s a lifelong struggle for many children.”

By: Abdulkareem Yakubu

As the malnutrition crisis in Nigeria deepens, MSF tackles both immediate needs and long-term consequences

Survivors of childhood malnutrition often experience physical and cognitive delays that can lead to irreversible and lasting damage long into adulthood. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is warning of the devastating long-term consequences of malnutrition as the international medical humanitarian organization records a surge in cases in northern Nigeria.

At an MSF-supported inpatient therapeutic feeding centre in Maiyama General Hospital in Kebbi State, two-year-old Ummul Khairun Mohammed is receiving treatment for severe acute malnutrition. Due to developmental delays caused by the condition, she is still unable to walk.

The little girl is one of thousands of under five-year-old children currently receiving care from MSF teams across northern Nigeria during the annual peak malnutrition season.

For several days – sometimes up to several weeks – these children receive treatment aimed at stabilising them, addressing medical complications, and promoting rapid weight gain.

While most children recover, many will suffer long-term consequences.

“Malnutrition is not just a short-term emergency — it is a lifelong struggle for many children,” says Dr. Jamila Shuaibu Bello, an MSF doctor in the northern state of Kano. “It affects brain development. Malnutrition weakens the immune system, making children more susceptible to communicable diseases. It is also linked to chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension.”

Childhood malnutrition effects last a lifetime

Even a few weeks of experiencing severe malnourishment can severely disrupt a child’s motor development. Affected children may miss key milestones such as crawling by 8–10 months or walking by 18 months. Chronic malnutrition often results in stunting — a condition that impairs mental development, school performance, and cognitive abilities. In girls, stunting can also lead to obstetric complications later in life due to smaller pelvis size.

If these issues are not addressed early, the damage can be irreversible. To respond to long-term effects of malnutrition, MSF is pioneering two new approaches.

Restoring movement: Pediatric physiotherapy

With the support of the MSF Foundation, which creates new medical tools for the most neglected patients where MSF operates, our teams recently launched pediatric physiotherapy programs in the northwestern states of Kano and Katsina. These sessions include guided exercises, play-based therapy, and training for caregivers to continue therapy at home. Each intervention is tailored to the child’s developmental stage and condition, helping rebuild strength, coordination, and confidence.

While still in their pilot stage, the two projects are already showing promising results in helping children regain motor functions and achieve developmental milestones.

13-month-old Usman Aliyu was treated for malnutrition at Unguwa Uku hospital in Kano before participating in physiotherapy sessions. “Before Usman fell ill, he could crawl and stand. But he lost those abilities due to the sickness,” says Usman’s mother Aisha Aliyu. “In the physiotherapy sessions, he was taught to stand again and is now taking steps towards walking.”

An MSF physiotherapist in Kano, Fatima Abdulmajid says, “When I first arrived, I was shocked by the severity of motor delays, but seeing the children’s progress week after week through motor stimulation makes me proud of the work we are doing.”

Mental health support for children and caregivers

Malnutrition also affects mental health. Children are more likely to develop anxiety and depression, while caregivers often feel helpless and overwhelmed as they watch their child grow weak and unresponsive.

To address this, MSF provides psychosocial support as part of its malnutrition projects in several states — including Zamfara, Bauchi, Sokoto, Borno, Kebbi, Kano, and Katsina. Services include play therapy, counselling, and caregiver education to help families manage emotional and behavioural challenges.

“It’s one thing to treat the child medically, and it’s another to assess which areas of development have been emotionally affected,” explains Kauna Hope Bako, MSF’s mental health supervisor in Bauchi. “Mental health support helps manage the child’s overall well-being. We stimulate the child emotionally and engage all these areas that have been compromised due to malnutrition.”

The integration of physiotherapy and mental health support into malnutrition treatment marks a critical step toward holistic care that goes beyond just survival to support a child’s quality of life.

Public health emergency

Malnutrition is a public health emergency in Nigeria. According to UNICEF, an estimated three million children are currently suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the country — up from 2.6 million in 2024. Of these, 1.65 million are in six conflict-affected northern states – areas that MSF operates in.

MSF has been raising the alarm about the worsening malnutrition situation in northern Nigeria since 2022. In 2024 alone, more than 250,000 children with severe acute malnutrition were admitted to MSF- supported outpatient facilities and 76,000 acutely malnourished children with medical complications to inpatient facilities, representing an increase of 38 percent and 53 percent respectively compared to 2023.

This year, anticipating an even earlier start of the peak season that typically runs from June through September, MSF increased in-patient bed capacity, scaled up out-patient therapeutic feeding centres and hired more staff. The organization also boosted health promotion activities in several communities that include education on how to prevent, detect and treat malnutrition, and the need to take children for medical treatment early.

From January to May 2025, MSF admitted 24,784 severely malnourished children in inpatient therapeutic feeding centres, and 107,461 children in outpatient therapeutic feeding centres in northern Nigeria, an increase of 13 percent compared to the same period in 2024

The persistent malnutrition crisis in northern Nigeria stems from a variety of factors such as inflation, food insecurity, insufficient healthcare infrastructure, ongoing security issues, and disease outbreaks worsened by low vaccine coverage. The situation is further exacerbated by funding shortages for the already inadequate nutrition response.

To address such a complex issue, a holistic approach is needed from all local and international actors involved — not only to treat malnourished children in the short term, but also to tackle the long-term consequences of malnutrition.

“Malnutrition is not just a short-term emergency — it’s a lifelong struggle for many children.”

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Zulum Delivers Relief, Cash Support to 434 Ngoshe Residents Rescued from Boko Haram

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Zulum Delivers Relief, Cash Support to 434 Ngoshe Residents Rescued from Boko Haram

By: Our Reporter

Borno State Government has distributed relief materials to 434 indigenes of Ngoshe community in Gwoza Local Government Area who were recently rescued by security agencies after spending three months in Boko Haram captivity.

Governor Babagana Umara Zulum visited the victims in Pulka on Monday and directed the immediate distribution of food and non-food items to support their recovery and reintegration.

In compliance with the Governor’s directive, the Director General of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Alhaji Ali Abdullahi Isa, promptly supervised the distribution exercise.

Each rescued person received a bag of rice, a bag of maize grits, a mattress, a wrapper, and a shadda, while children received two pairs of clothing.

In addition, 208 heads of households received N50,000 each, fulfilling Governor Zulum’s earlier pledge of financial assistance.

Speaking during the distribution, the SEMA Director General said the intervention was part of the government’s immediate response to ease the hardship faced by the rescued victims.

“I am here at the instance of His Excellency, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, who was here some few days ago, and to deliver the items he directed that it should be given to you as emergency relief,” Ali stated.

The rescued individuals are currently receiving medical care and psychosocial support at a government facility. Upon completion of the rehabilitation process, they will be reintegrated into their respective communities.

The exercise was carried out alongside the Chairman of Gwoza local government, representatives of the Ngoshe community, and other officials.

Zulum Delivers Relief, Cash Support to 434 Ngoshe Residents Rescued from Boko Haram

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Democracy Day: Zulum gives 2 MRAPs, other logistics to Army, celebrates with IDPs

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Democracy Day: Zulum gives 2 MRAPs, other logistics to Army, celebrates with IDPs

By: Michael Mike

Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, marked Democracy Day with the handover of two Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and critical logistics to the Nigerian Army, after joining internally displaced persons (IDPs) for a symbolic celebration and distribution of food items to 2,500 beneficiaries.

The armoured MRAPs delivered to the Theatre Command of Operation Hadin Kai on Friday are intended to enhance troop protection against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and ambushes which remain a persistent threat in the fight against insurgents. Additional logistics include operational Hilux vehicles and motorcycles for frontline soldiers in difficult terrains.

Zulum also marked Nigeria’s Democracy Day celebration with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the Madinatu camp where he distributed food supplies, non-food items, and cash gifts to thousands of beneficiaries.

The distribution, held at the Madinatu IDP camp, served to consolidate Zulum’s resettlement gains. Over the past seven years, Borno State Government has successfully resettled more than 2 million IDPs in their ancestral communities in a dignified and voluntary manner.

“It gladdens my heart today, the 12th of June, 2026, to celebrate June 12th, Democracy Day, here in Madinatu Camp, the only formal camp that is standing inside Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, today, to the glory of God and the benefit of mankind, for the distribution of food and non-food items. Inshallah, this camp will be closed this year. This will be our last distribution exercise in this camp, or the second to the last,” Zulum said.

However, Governor Zulum used the occasion to announce a timeline for the camp’s closure. The governor ordered that Madinatu camp be shut down within one month, vowing to similarly close most IDP camps across various Local Government Areas in the coming phase of his administration’s resettlement strategy.

“Democracy must translate into restoring the dignity of our people,” Zulum told the IDPs. “Living in camps is not a permanent solution. Our goal remains to return every displaced person to their ancestral homes with security and means of livelihood.”

In addition to the food items, Zulum approved N50,000 each for the 2,500 beneficiaries present at the event.

“Each of the 500 beneficiaries mentioned will receive a 25kg bag of rice and a 25kg bag of sorghum. Women will receive wrappers. I also promise to provide 50,000 naira to each beneficiary. This amount can be credited into their own individual accounts, inshallah,” Zulum said.

The exercise was attended by the APC’s State Deputy Chairman, Garba Mulima, APC State Vice Chairman (Central) Abdur Rahman Abdulkarim, Acting Chief of Staff, Dr Babagana Mallumbe, Member representing Jere at the State Assembly, Abba Kyari Kolo, commissioners and commissioner designates and several other senior government officials.

Democracy Day: Zulum gives 2 MRAPs, other logistics to Army, celebrates with IDPs

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Gov. Yusuf Commends DSS Over Arrest of Suspected Gun Courier in Kano

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Gov. Yusuf Commends DSS Over Arrest of Suspected Gun Courier in Kano

By: Michael Mike

Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has commended the Department of State Services (DSS) for the arrest of a suspected gun courier intercepted while allegedly transporting weapons believed to be destined for criminal elements in Katsina State.

The commendation was contained in a statement issued by the Governor’s spokesperson, Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, on Thursday, June 12, 2026.

Governor Yusuf described the operation as a major breakthrough in the ongoing fight against banditry, terrorism and other violent crimes threatening communities across Northern Nigeria.

According to information provided by the DSS, the suspect, identified as Muhammad Abubakar, 30, was apprehended in Gezawa Local Government Area of Kano State while allegedly transporting four rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) tubes, three AK-47 rifles and two empty magazines to Funtua in Katsina State.

Preliminary investigations reportedly revealed that the suspect collected the weapons from an individual identified as Bello in the Maigatari border area of Jigawa State and was expected to receive N450,000 upon successful delivery of the arms.

Governor Yusuf praised the professionalism, vigilance and intelligence-driven approach of DSS operatives, noting that the timely interception prevented the weapons from falling into the hands of bandits and other criminal groups.

He said the operation underscored the critical role of intelligence gathering and effective collaboration among security agencies in tackling emerging security threats across the country.

The governor reaffirmed the commitment of the Kano State Government to supporting security agencies through sustained cooperation, logistics assistance and policies aimed at strengthening public safety throughout the state.

He also urged residents to remain vigilant and continue providing credible information to security agencies to aid efforts to combat crime and maintain peace.

Governor Yusuf expressed confidence that ongoing investigations would lead to the arrest and prosecution of all individuals connected to the alleged arms trafficking network.

The statement was signed by Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, Director General, Media and Publicity, Government House, Kano.

Gov. Yusuf Commends DSS Over Arrest of Suspected Gun Courier in Kano

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