Save the Children International (SCI), Nigeria, has called for improved humanitarian assistance for children affected by the devastating flood in Maiduguri.

During a news conference in Abuja, its country director, Duncan Harvey, said there were more than 150,000 children in 26 camps, many separated from their families.

Mr Harvey, while speaking during his visit with his team to see the situation in Maiduguri and offer humanitarian assistance, said the disaster was the worst in his living memory in 30 years.

“Last week’s flooding in Borno is one of the worst in 30 years, affecting 400,000 people and leaving children and families without shelter, healthcare, school, clean water and food.

“I was in Maiduguri until Saturday when I saw the massive damages the flooding caused and interacted with some affected families. Conditions in the hastily opened Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps are overcrowded and unsanitary, and the scale of partners’ services is not keeping up with the numbers.

“According to the Borno state government’s emergency operations centre, over 300,000 people have been registered in at least 26 relocation sites as of September 14,” he stated.

Mr Harvey said that up to 30 sites were set up and registration is ongoing, adding that access to hospitals, markets, and other critical infrastructure remained limited.

Mr Harvey said that the state government had shown impressive leadership in response efforts, and the coordination on the ground had been commendable. He, however, said the conditions for children were dire, and there was an urgent need for more resources and stronger coordination to scale up life-saving interventions.

Mr Harvey said that children would be placed on therapeutic feeding to boost their nutritional needs. He said that food rations have been distributed to 5,000 people to scale it up over the last few days.

He said that SCI was working with local vendors to provide prepackaged meals within the camps as a key area of intervention for SCI and added that SCI was also providing safe drinking water to children and other people in the camps.

(NAN)