Nigeria: Aid reaches hundreds found in Sambisa Forest

GENEVA, Switzerland, May 7, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Nigerian Red Cross have delivered aid to a group of 275 people, mainly women and children, who had been found in Sambisa Forest, in north-east Nigeria. The group was found during military operations in the region last week.

The group was taken to a camp in the town of Yola and yesterday received clothing, bed-sheets, jerricans and hygiene articles. The ICRC also provided medical supplies to the federal hospital in Yola to help treat the wounded and sick.

”The suffering endured during this conflict, especially by women and girls, is tragic. Communities have been torn apart. We hope this group of people can now return to their families and loved ones. They will need continued support into the future,” said Beat Armin Mosimann, an ICRC official in Yola. The ICRC will further coordinate its efforts with other humanitarian actors to respond to the needs of this group.

The ICRC and the Nigerian Red Cross are engaged in large-scale activities to help the population affected by the conflict in north-east Nigeria. Since December 2014, food has been distributed to more than 200,000 people, clean water has been provided and medical assistance given to the local population and surgical cares in north-eastern Nigeria.