No fewer than 65,000 residents in Damasak town, Borno State have fled their homes to neighbouring Niger Republic over incessant attacks by Boko Haram terrorists between April 10 and 14.

The violent attacks by the terrorists has also halted multiple humanitarian activities in the entire region that has been ravaged by insurgency for over a decade.

This was made known Friday in a joint statement issued by Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Action Against Hunger and Norwegian Refugee Council.

The report mentioned that since April 10, the jihadist sect have carried out three consecutive attacks on Damasak town and the humanitarian community. 

“A series of attacks by armed groups on Damasak town in North-East Nigeria, including multiple humanitarian compounds, has forced the majority of the population to flee the city and humanitarian organisations to suspend their operations.

“The violent attacks pushed an estimated 65,000 people from Damasak on the road. Thousands of families and elderly people in dire need, and largely dependent on humanitarian aid, are currently crossing the Yobe river towards Niger for safety. NGO staff managed to hide and escape the town, but their private houses were set ablaze after house-to-house searches, demonstrating an unprecedented level of targeting of humanitarian workers,” the statement revealed.

Damasak is the headquarters of Mobbar Local Government Area in northern Borno. The town is a few kilometres from the border of Niger.

Multiple media organisations on April 14 reported how Boko Haram fighters attacked the city of Damasak, killing at least 10 people.

In a viral video published on social media, displayed how residents and their livestock are fleeing their home towns.

However, the statement noted that about 8.7 million people in the North-East region of the country are in dire need of humanitarian assistance due to ten years of conflict. 

“Currently, more than a million of these people receive no assistance and have no access to basic social services because humanitarians lack safe access to the areas where they are,” the NGOs disclosed.

Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said the Nigerian government has failed in its duty to protect the lives of its citizens 

“A large number of vulnerable children, women and men will have no relief and no protection, unless the Nigerian government and international donors do more to help us stay and deliver.

“Governments cannot shy away from their responsibility to protect civilians. Our access and ability to safely support the millions of people in need is shrinking day by day, at a time when needs are reaching alarming levels,” he said.

The onslaught of Boko Haram insurgency has led to the deaths of tens of thousands citizens and rendered over two million people homeless since it started in 2009.