16,000 Nigerians Have Fled North-East - UN

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has said that about 16,000 Nigerians have fled the north eastern parts of the country seeking refuge in neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

This statistics was contained in a statement signed by Kori Habib, UNFPA Media Associate in Nigeria as part of the activities to mark the 2015 World Population Day scheduled for July 11.
The statement read “Nigeria has about 1.5 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) largely due to communal conflicts and insurgencies in the north eastern part.

“The majority of the IDPs are women, children and elderly and 52 per cent of the IDPs are estimated to be children under the age of 18 years.”

The National Population Commission (NPC) with the UNFPA and other stakeholders has also revealed plans to celebrate this year’s world population day with the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East.

In a statement issued by the Director of Press, Simon Otene, the commission said “The theme of the 2015 WPD is of crucial relevance and timely to Nigeria. It’s been reported that about 167,000 Nigerians have fled the North-East because of insurgency to take refuge in the neighbouring countries of Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

“The National Population Commission, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), partners and stakeholders, has lined up series of activities for the commemoration of the 2015 WPD.”