Since February 2015, violence linked to the Boko Haram terrorist group has resulted in numerous casualties and displacement of thousands of people in the Diffa region of south-eastern Niger. More than 240,000 people have fled the violence, according to the UN.
Civilian casualties were reported by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA-Niger, in the departments of Bosso, Diffa, Goudoumaria, Mainé Soroa and Nguigmi.
« According to the non-exhaustive data collected by the partners in the field, there are about 455 people killed, wounded or abducted since the first attacks of Boko Haram in Niger in February 2015 », the UN agency said on its website.
The number of civilians killed in the region amounted to 291 and the wounded made 143. The highest percentage of deaths was recorded in the department of Bosso with 203 deaths, more than 70 per cent of cases.
If the security situation has improved in recent weeks, people remain marked by these events.
There are « many cases of post-traumatic stress. (…) It’s linked to what people have been through: they have been terrified and upset, indicated, to Sahelien.com, by the deputy doctor-in-chief of the Bosso health center last February.
Augustin K. Fodou