The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has issued a dire warning that 400,000 Nigerian children could die in just over a month due to severe acute malnutrition, unless urgent action is taken.
This alarming revelation was made by UNICEF Nigeria’s Chief of Field Operations, Judith Leveille, during a joint press briefing in Abuja. The event focused on escalating nutrition emergencies in the North-East and North-West, and the EU’s support for victims of the Yelewata crisis in Benue State.
Leveille stressed that Nigeria faces a critical stockout of essential nutrition commodities—particularly Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF)—by September 1. “We have one month and eight days to avoid the preventable deaths of over 400,000 children,” she said.
She emphasized that 3.5 million children in Nigeria are currently suffering from severe acute malnutrition, a condition that is now visibly affecting adults in some states. “That’s equivalent to filling the Abuja National Stadium 60 times,” said Camilla Higgins, Director of the Nigeria INGO Forum.
Aid workers, including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Action Against Hunger, have described overcrowded stabilisation centres and under-resourced facilities. Bilal Ahmad, MSF’s Head of Mission, noted that facilities in Katsina and Sokoto are being overwhelmed, with some hospitals doubling bed capacities to accommodate the surge.
“We’re already seeing 120 beds full at facilities planned for 60. Many children arrive after traveling long distances, often too late,” Ahmad warned, adding that mortality rates now range from 3.7% to 7.7%.
Higgins pointed out that international donor funding has dropped significantly this year, exacerbating the crisis. “The response capacity in the Northeast and Northwest is collapsing,” she said.
UNICEF and other INGOs are now calling on the Nigerian government to take full leadership in coordinating a national response. Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Yusuf Sununu, assured that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is committed to boosting international confidence through transparency and traceable interventions.
With the peak of the lean season still weeks away, experts say immediate funding, personnel, and resources are crucial to prevent thousands of avoidable deaths in the coming weeks.
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