Project Empower the African Child

SAVE THE REFUGEES OF AFRICAN $1 CAN FEED A CHILD, OVER 100 MILLION CHILDREN GO HUNGRY EVERY YEAR, Boko Haram (BH), meaning Western education is forbidden, an Islamist militant insurgent group based in northeastern Nigeria, has been carrying out armed attacks on civilian populations since 2011. In May 2013, the Government of Nigeria declared a state of emergency (SoE) in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states, which has been extended until November 2014. The security crisis continues to worsen, with growing numbers of victims, and the destruction of social and economic infrastructure, including the disruption of education services.

Over 2014, Boko Haram has seized large swathes of territory in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states and there has been an increase in number and scale of attacks on villages, cities, schools and military bases. Some reports indicate that Boko Haram has taken control of 40%, or even 70%, of Borno state. Although attacks have been concentrated in the northeast, attacks have also taken place in other parts of the country, including Lagos and Abuja

7,711 deaths due to Boko Haram-related violence were reported by media sources in 2014, representing over half of BH-related deaths in the country since May 2011. Over 1–11 January 2015, Boko Haram killed 2,146 people. ACLED estimates Boko Haram fatalities may be over 1,000 per month over 2015–2016. 9 million people are affected by violence in the northeast, with three million acutely needing humanitarian assistance.

As of September 2014, the Presidential Initiative for the North-East reports 1.5 million IDPs due to the insurgency in the three SoE states. Besides the SoE states, IDPs can also be found in Gombe, Bauchi, Jigawa, Taraba, Kano, Kaduna, and Plateau states, as well as limited numbers in the Federal Capital Territory.

135,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries. An estimated 35,000 refugees are in northern Cameroon. Chad is hosting 10,000 Nigerian refugees. Around 90,000 people (refugees, returnees and third-country nationals) have been displaced to Diffa region in Niger.

Over 2014, the conflict’s spread to northern Cameroon intensified, and isolated incidents were recorded in Niger and Chad. In December 2014, Boko Haram launched several large-scale attacks in the Far North region of Cameroon, including one in late December involving up to 1,000 fighters.

Meanwhile, more than 100,000 refugees have fled from Boko Haram to the neighbouring countries, causing alarm and strain on their scarce resources.

The hunger along the Sahel region in northern Nigeria has led to malnutrition and, you may not know it, but the situation we had in Somalia and Ethiopia is now here in Nigeria,. “This is because the areas affected by the floods produce 80 per cent of food in Nigeria. And most of the places affected by Boko Haram insurgency are those that produce grains for much of West Africa, not Nigeria alone

The type of humanitarian crisis experienced in Somalia and Ethiopia some years ago is now the lot of many in parts of Nigeria as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency, climate change and the resultant drought and flood as well as other armed conflicts.

Nigeria’s displaced people may have reached the 1 million mark, and that total could grow, the International Organization for Migration says.

On 3 January 2015, Boko Haram again attacked Baga, seizing it and the military base used by a multinational force set up to fight them. The town was burned and the people massacred. Although the death toll of the massacre was earlier estimated by local officials to be upwards of 2000 the Defence Ministry has now dismissed these claims as "speculation and conjecture" and "exaggerated". They estimate the death toll to be closer to 150 instead. It should be noted, however, that this is an estimation and that Nigeria has often been accused of underestimating casualty figures in an effort to downplay the threat of Boko Haram. Some residents escaped to nearby Chad

On January 12 Boko Haram attacked a Cameroon military base in Kolofata. Government forces report killing 143 militants, while one Cameroon soldier was killed. On January 18 Boko Haram raided two Tourou Cameroon area villages, torching houses, killing some residents and kidnapping between 60 and 80 people including an estimated 50 young children between the ages of 10 and 15

But this important process will take place in the shadow of a worsening threat -- Boko Haram, the Islamist insurgent group otherwise known as Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which killed as many as 2,000 people in the northeastern town of Baga on January 3.

The attacks of the past few weeks -- Boko Haram's biggest ever in terms of casualties on Baga, and on markets using children to detonate devices -- have drawn international focus back to the crisis.

The UNESCO 2003 study on Children in Abject Poverty in Nigeria revealed that:

Ill health and inadequate health services remain critical challenges for children in abject poverty. This is aggravated by the living conditions of children in almost all the districts studied.

School-related costs have been the major obstacle for children in abject poverty to access education. The education of the world’s children is high on the global agenda. In the context of education for all (EFA), all children should receive free, good quality education. The reality is that millions of the world’s children are too poor to benefit from the declaration, unless there are special interventions that target their development.

The Nigerian society grossly neglects orphans and people with disabilities and there are no structured support programs to ensure care is available for this very vulnerable group. Coupling the historical lack of support with growing evidence on the vulnerability of people with disabilities and orphans to risks of criminal exploitation, sexual slavery, HIV infection, and even murder highlights the problems of exclusion

People with disabilities are more likely to become victims of sexual exploitation, sexual violence, rape, and predation leading to increased exposure vulnerability to HIV. Banda (2002) noted that many people wrongly believed that disabled persons are asexual and do not have sexual life. Moreover, criminals and money ritualists find it easy to engage their hideous activities because of poverty. This has made so many of them fall victim as money rituals or become recruit agents for the same act.

The numbers of orphans and vulnerable children and woman and children living with HIV/AIDS has increased in recent times due to boko haram attacks in Nigeria. boko haram attacks renders women and children both homeless and fatherless and miserable with no where to go and no food to eat.

This is why our is seeking urgent financial assistance from you in order to complete our ongoing humanitarian project.