MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Nigeria's government
plans to deliver humanitarian aid supplies by air to people in
remote communities in parts of the northeast that have been
ravaged by the decade-long Islamist insurgency spearheaded by
Boko Haram.
The insurgency, which since 2009 has killed around 35,000
people and forced two million people to flee their homes, has
spawned one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Seven
million people need some form of aid, the United Nations
estimates.
Humanitarian affairs minister Sadiya Umar Farouk on Sunday
told reporters in Maiduguri, capital of the conflict-ravaged
Borno state, that Nigerian Air Force helicopters and planes
would be used to drop food supplies and items such as blankets.
"There has been an issue of inaccessible areas where
humanitarian workers cannot reach the people," she said at a
news conference on Sunday. "Air drops are especially good for
areas we cannot access by road," she added.
Farouk did not provide details of the number of people
authorities expected to reach or the frequency of deliveries. A
spokesman for the ministry did not immediately respond to a
phone call and text messages seeking further details.
Security forces in Nigeria, which plays a key role in
maintaining stability in West Africa, have in recent months
battled strikes by Islamists in the northeast.
Jihadist group Boko Haram was pushed off most of the land it
controlled early in 2015 but the group continued to mount
attacks in the northeast, as well as neighbouring Cameroon, Chad
and Niger.
A splinter faction that pledged allegiance to Islamic State
in 2016 has become the dominant force in the region, mounting
sustained attacks on the armed forces in the last few years.