Priority Needs
Food insecurity: 257,000 people are facing a food crisis (IPC Phases 3-5). Food insecurity is at extreme levels.
Nutrition: Extreme levels of food insecurity exacerbated malnutrition rates, especially among children under five.
Protection: Concerns include abduction, indiscriminate killing, arbitrary detention of suspected BH members, and recruitment of children by both Boko Haram and security forces.
Livelihood: Lack of livelihood opportunities further impoverish IDPs and host communities and prevent returns.
Crisis overview
Violence by Boko Haram (BH) and counterinsurgency activities by the Nigeria Army has left devastation in Nigeria’s northeast. With 2.5 million people in need, Adamawa is the second most affected state in the conflict. An estimated 1,900,000 (approximately 337,000 households) are internally displaced across the country in almost 2,000 locations, including 152,000 people in Adamawa (IOM 31/01/2017; OCHA 30/11/2016).
While response started in Adamawa, focus has since shifted to Borno, as more LGAs have become accessible, leaving thousands of affected people in Michika, Mubi, Mahai,
Gombi and other LGAs in severe need.
Boko Haram
Military operations by the Nigerian military, the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) through 2016 have weakened Boko Haram’s capacity to hold territory in northeast Nigeria.
In Adamawa in 2014, BH controlled Madagali which borders Borno state, Mubi, the second largest town in the state and Michika, a trading hub near the Cameroon border (BBC 08/09/2014; BBC 05/11/2014). Military operations led to the recapture of all these territories by 2015 and reduced the extent and intensity of the insurgency (Premium Times 12/03/2015). Northern Adamawa, however, remains extremely volatile, as BH continues to pose a threat to security. Madagali has seen an increase in suicide bomb attacks since 2016 as military operations have continued around Sambisa Forest (OCHA 13/01/2017;
Channels 13/01/2017; Premium Times 04/01/2017).
Intercommunal violence
Adamawa state has also seen numerous Fulani herder attacks and intercommunal conflicts. Clashes between Fulani and agrarian communities in late 2016 and early 2017 in Demsa Local Government Area (LGA) left over 30 people dead and hundreds displaced. Herders reportedly attacked over 10 villages in central Adamawa between January and July 2016, killing 100 people and displacing 2,500 (Daily Post 08/10/2016; Daily Post 03/08/2016; This Day 09/01/2017).