Get Guardian on GoogleThe Nigerian Red Cross Society has declared that Nigeria is fast emerging as a major hub for humanitarian response efforts globally, even as it raised concerns over worsening insecurity, rising displacement figures and dwindling funding support.
Speaking during the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day activities in Abuja, National President of the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Oluyemisi Adeaga, disclosed that about 3.7 million Nigerians are currently displaced across the country due to escalating insecurity and violent conflicts.
Adeaga said the growing humanitarian emergencies have placed enormous pressure on the organisation’s operations, warning that the increasing number of vulnerable persons is not being matched by adequate volunteer strength and financial support.
“We are witnessing something extraordinary across the world, and Nigeria is becoming a hub of attraction for humanitarian services,” he said.
Also, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday raised concern over the renewed killings in Plateau State, describing the recurring attacks and the reported assault on mourners during a burial in Barkin Ladi as a failure of security response in the state.
Atiku was reacting to reports and videos from Barkin Ladi, where gunmen reportedly attacked mourners during a mass burial on Wednesday.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president said the repeated attacks in Plateau communities now bear the “signature of organised terrorism.”
He also accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of lacking an effective counterterrorism strategy.
“The violent crises in Plateau State have become an open sore that Nigeria must urgently heal. What is happening is no longer random violence. It is a recurring pattern of coordinated terror attacks against vulnerable communities,” Atiku said.
