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North-East Nigeria: Protection Monitoring Report, March - April 2020

Países
Nigeria
Fuentes
FHI 360
+ 3
Fecha de publicación

The security situation in Borno Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) States marked by a lull during March 2020 has deteriorated due to repetitive attacks on military positions, IDP camps in Local Government Areas (LGAs) during April 2020 with severe impact on communities and persons of concern (PoC). In addition, Chadian Military operations on both terrorist groups -ISWAP-BH and JAS-, resulted in pushing back of terrorist groups from Chad to neighboring countries including Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon, thereby contributing to the deterioration of the security situation in these countries of the Lake Chad Basin Region.

In April 2020, in particular and contrary to the situation prevailing in March 2020, the Maiduguri-Damaturu axis connecting Borno and Yobe States turned into a “no Go” status due to increased insecurity caused by intensified operations of NSAG along this main supply route, critically hindering humanitarian access.

The northeast environment already impacted by security-related challenges has been further hit by the COVID- 19 pandemic outbreak in Nigeria during March and its spread to Northeast in April. Measures put in place first to prevent and respond, then to contain the spread of the pandemic including border closure and the lockdown have had an adverse impact on humanitarian response and affected population access to their rights.

As seen in the previous years, terrorist activities increase during the Holy Month of Ramadan is expected as the month is considered the month of Jihad by the Islamist groups.

In Borno State, major incidents included attacks on schools and health facilities in violation of Security Council Resolution 1261 (1999) in Biu LGA in March and attacks and kidnapping of IDPs by NSAGs while out of the camps to fetch firewood and while traveling on the main supply route between Monguno and Maiduguri. Attacks on military bases and civilian soft targets as well as attempts to infiltrate camps in Dikwa, Ngala, Banki, Gwoza have also been reported. In Adamawa State, breaches to peace include attacks on civilians by NSAG in the north particularly in Krinshinga and Gulak wards of Madagali LGA and criminal activities such as kidnapping, robbery, and clashes between Herders-Farmers in the South of the State. In Yobe State, the clearance operation by the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) around the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) to flush out insurgents has pushed out the group to Gaidam, Kananma LGAs.

Despite the very complex situation, some positive developments are worth mentioning: In Damasak, the General Hospital has reopened, and WFP resumed the distribution of cooking oil as part of the food basket during General Food distribution after 4 weeks suspension during March. In a bid to prevent the disruption of the provision of basic humanitarian supplies for the affected population during COVID-19 prevention and response, BAY State governments exempted vehicles carrying humanitarian supplies from movement restrictions. These have supported persons of concerns’ access to health care, food, and other humanitarian supplies.