Corruption, insecurity driving Famine in North East – official

Health officials say malnutrition is deepening in the Northeast and threatening the survival of children in the region due to corruption and insecurity.

Abdullahi Madi, deputy state nutrition officer, Borno State stated that corruption and misuse of interventions as well as the persisting conflict are major reasons why the situation has not improved and the statistics have remained grim.

Madi noted that hundreds of thousands of children are suffering from malnutrition in the region especially in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. In Borno alone, he disclosed that more than 85,000 children were diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition in the last seven months.

He decried that some basic interventions such as the ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), micronutrient powder are being diverted and sold off, hence they do not get to the beneficiaries.