ABUJA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's humanitarian situation is still very alarming and currently the most severe in the world, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said Thursday.
In a statement, the UN agency said the humanitarian crises which emanated from terror group Boko Haram's attacks, particularly in the country's northeast region, had left over 8.5 million people in dire need of assistance in the worst affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.
UNOCHA said the prolonged humanitarian crisis has had a devastating impact on food security and nutrition in Nigeria's northeast.
Members of many communities in the affected states continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, resulting in the spread of forced displacement, violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, severe protection concern and food and nutrition crisis in large proportion.
According to the UN agency, about 450,000 children under five are in need of nutrition support and this has been compounded by the lean season between July and September.
"Today, more than 1.7 million people are internally displaced in the three worst affected states with 80 percent of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Borno, the epic center of the crisis," UNOCHA noted, saying more than half of them are living outside the IDP camps in local communities who are themselves among the world's poorest people.
Insecurity, especially in Borno, continued to hamper humanitarian operations, UNOCHA said.
