UNITED NATIONS, July 1 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarians said on Friday they are increasingly concerned over worsening food shortages and insecurity in the largest displaced persons camp in northeast Nigeria's Maiduguri city.
The concern focuses on 30,000 of the 50,000 internally displaced people in the Muna camp, who have not received food assistance for weeks, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
There is also concern about protection issues in the camp and the lack of livelihood opportunities, which have forced displaced people to venture to unsafe locations where they are routinely attacked or abducted by non-state armed groups, the office said.
"The worsening situation in Muna camp is occurring against the backdrop of a serious deterioration in food security throughout northeast Nigeria," OCHA said. "Some 4.1 million people are at risk of crisis-level food insecurity this lean season, with some 600,000 people projected to be at emergency levels."
The office said it expects approximately 1.7 million children under the age of five to suffer from acute malnutrition across the northeast this year.
Despite funding shortages, aid workers have reached 1.8 million people in this year's first quarter, OCHA said. The 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan, which requires 1.1 billion U.S. dollars, is only 23 percent funded.
The government plans to close all camps in Borno state's capital city, including Muna, within several weeks, the office said.
Humanitarians often cite extremist violence, economic problems and climate change as leading to hunger and insecurity in northeast Nigeria. ■