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MSF Raises the Alarm, Malnutrition Records Now Overwhelming in North East
MSF Raises the Alarm, Malnutrition Records Now Overwhelming in North East
By: Michael Mike
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) otherwise called Doctors Without Borders has raised the alarm that inpatient facilities in northern Nigeria have recorded an extraordinary increase in admissions of severely malnourished children with life-threatening complications, exceeding last year’s figures by over 100 per cent in some locations.
The organisation in a statement on Tuesday said the latest figure was the result of admission records in the last few weeks at facilities in the area, insisting that for MSF teams, this is an alarming indication of a premature peak of the lean season and the increase in acute malnutrition that accompanies it, typically anticipated in July.
Speaking on the situation, the MSF’s Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr Simba Tirima said: “We are resorting to treating patients on mattresses on the floor because our facilities are full. Children are dying. If immediate action is not taken, more lives hang in the balance. Everyone needs to step in to save lives and allow the children of northern Nigeria to grow free from malnutrition and its disastrous long-term, if not fatal, consequences.
“Humanitarian assistance must be urgently scaled up. MSF calls upon the Nigerian authorities, international organisations and donors to take immediate action to diagnose and treat malnourished children to prevent associated complications and deaths, but also to engage in sustained, long-term initiatives to mitigate the underlying causes of this urgent problem.
“We’ve been warning about the worsening malnutrition crisis for the last two years. 2022 and 2023 were already critical, but an even grimmer picture is unfolding in 2024. We can’t keep repeating these catastrophic scenarios year after year. What will it take to make everyone take notice and act?” Tirima added.
According to the statement, in April 2024, MSF’s medical team in Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria admitted 1250 severely malnourished children with complications to the inpatient therapeutic feeding centre, doubling the figure for April 2023. Forced to urgently scale up capacity, by the end of May the centre accommodated 350 patients, far surpassing the 200 beds initially designated for the peak malnutrition season in July and August.
Also in the northeast, the MSF-operated facility in Bauchi state’s Karfin Madaki hospital recorded a significant 188 per cent increase in admissions of severely malnourished children during the first three months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
The statement added that in the northwestern part of the region, in Zamfara state, the inpatient centres in Shinkafi and Zurmi have received up to 30 per cent more monthly admissions in April compared to March. Talata Mafara’s facility saw about 20 per cent increase in the same period. Similarly, MSF inpatient facilities in major cities like Kano and Sokoto are also reporting alarming surges, by 75 and 100 per centrespectively. The therapeutic feeding centre in Kebbi state also documented a rise of more than 20 per cent in inpatient admissionsfrom March to April.
The statement read that despite the alarming situation, the overall humanitarian response remains inadequate. Other non-profit organisations active in the north are also overwhelmed. The United Nations and Nigerian authorities issued an urgent appeal in May for $306.4 million to address the pressing nutritional needs in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states. Yet this will be insufficient, ignoring as it does other parts of northern Nigeria where needs also outweigh the currentcapacity of the organisations to respond sufficiently.
It added that the catastrophic nutritional situation seen in recent years in northern Nigeria calls for a bigger response. Persistently excluded from the formal humanitarian response, reductions in the already limited funding available for the northwest have also dangerously affected the provision of crucial therapeutic and supplementary food. These supplies were completely unavailable in Zamfara for the first four months of this year and are now only available in lower quantities. This reduction has meant that it is only possible to provide treatment for more severe malnutrition cases, compromising an effective response that also addresses malnutrition earlier in its progression and avoids exposing children to a higher risk of mortality.
Tirima said: “We are alarmed by the reduction in aid at these critical times. Reducing nutritional support to only severely malnourished children is akin to waiting for a child to become gravely ill beforeproviding care. We urge donors and authorities to increase supporturgently for both curative and preventive approaches, ensuring that all malnourished children receive the care they desperately need.”
MSF Raises the Alarm, Malnutrition Records Now Overwhelming in North East
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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NDLEA intercepts cocaine in Saudi-bound religious books
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