Insurgency, Virus Threaten 10.6 Million in Northeast Nigeria
A health worker checks the temperature of students in Magboro, Ogun State, southwest Nigeria, on Aug. 4.
Photographer: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
At least 10.6 million people in Nigeria’s northeast urgently need aid as a combination of Covid-19 restrictions and increasing insurgent attacks put the civilian population in peril, according to the United Nations.
“This is roughly the population of Belgium and twice the population of Norway,” Edward Kallon, the UN resident coordinator in Nigeria, told reporters Thursday. “At the same time as we are fighting the pandemic, I have been shocked, saddened and outraged by the brutal attacks targeting civilians, including aid workers.”