Insurgency: 7,300 Nigerian refugees flee to Chad

Some 7,300 Nigerian refugees had fled from Nigeria to Chad in the past 10 days, Mr Farthan Haq, a United Nation spokes person said on Saturday.

Haq said this when he spoke to newsmen in Abuja. He said that the newly arrived refugees in Chad are staying with local communities in villages some 450 kilometers northwest of the Chadian capital, Ndjamena.

“The UN refugee agency teams in Chad are at the border and seeking more information on the new arrivals and their needs,” Haq said.

He said that the number of refugees from Nigeria in Chad had reached more than 10,000.

Haq said that the Chadian government had requested the assistance of aid agencies to help the refugees.

Citing the United Nation Refugee Agency, he said that the conflict in northeastern Nigeria has led to the exodus of some 135,000 people “with “at least 850, 000 people displaced within Nigeria”.

(NAN)