6.4 million children in Northeast face acute malnutrition, says ICRC
By Victor Idajili
No fewer than 6.4 million children under five years in the North are suffering from acute malnutrition as food insecurity worsens in communities affected by years of armed conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said.
The humanitarian organisation warned that 15 years of violence in the Northeast has disrupted farming, displaced millions of residents and weakened household food systems, leaving young children particularly vulnerable to hunger and disease.
In an update released yesterday, the ICRC said the malnutrition crisis affects children across the Northeast, Northwest and Northcentral, describing it as one of the most devastating consequences of the prolonged conflict.
Children under five, pregnant women and lactating mothers remain the most at risk, especially in hard-to-reach areas in Borno and parts of Yobe State where severe acute malnutrition rates remain persistently high.
The organisation explained that displacement from farmland and loss of livelihoods have pushed many families into food insecurity, with children often bearing the brunt of the crisis.
Illustrating the severity of the situation, the ICRC recounted the experience of Zainab, a mother who brought her 22-month-old son Umar to a nutritional stabilisation centre in Damaturu, Yobe State.
When she arrived at the centre, the child was barely conscious in her arms, with severe swelling on his face and feet caused by nutritional edema, a life-threatening condition linked to prolonged lack of essential nutrients.
“I thought I was going to lose him,” Zainab recalled.
Health workers said without urgent medical treatment, children suffering from severe acute malnutrition rarely survive.
Umar was placed on therapeutic feeding and received close medical monitoring. Within a week, the swelling began to subside, and he gradually regained his appetite.
The ICRC said such cases reflect a broader humanitarian crisis affecting displaced communities across the region.
Another displaced mother, Fatima, said the conflict forced her family out of Sabon Gari, leaving her to care for 13 children with little food.
“When we were displaced, we lost our source of livelihood. We depended on neighbours and odd jobs just to eat,” she said.
Humanitarian workers said the loss of farmland and income opportunities has created a direct link between displacement and malnutrition in many communities.
