Boko Haram has been active since 2002, and their reign of terror has seen the rapid loss of innocent lives, primarily the children of Nigeria.
The Associated Press reports that nearly 75,000 children could starve to death within the next year given the famine situation in the northeastern region of Nigeria, catalyzed by Boko Haram. That area of the African country, including the three states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, were hit the hardest with this humanitarian crisis. According to Arjan de Wagt, nutrition chief for UNICEF, no other place in the world has been this critically impacted by a starvation emergency.
“Globally, you just don’t see this,” de Wagt said. “You have to go back to places like Somalia five years ago to see these kinds of levels.” Doctors Without Borders also issued a statement concerning the matter. “The mortality rate is five times higher than what is considered an emergency, with the main cause being hunger.”
UNICEF also shared that 400,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition within that northeastern area. The organization aims to increase aid upwards of $115 million.
In April 2014, Boko Haram remained a fixture on the mainstream news circuit after news surfaced that they kidnapped 276 Chibok schoolgirls in Borno State. Since then, one girl by the name of Amina Ali was found.