File Photo: some internally displaced people in Adamawa state, running away from Boko Haram

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has allocated 3.5 million dollars for humanitarian operations in Nigeria’s North East, UN secretary-general’s Spokesman, Stephane DuJarric, told newsmen in New York.

DuJarric said on Wednesday that the money was from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

He added that the CERF fund was for operations toward protecting the North East region.

The allocation was also to assist in providing water, sanitation and hygiene needs of the people in that area, he said.

The spokesman said the intervention fund was basically for Yobe and Borno, which currently bear the brunt of the insurgency in Nigeria.

The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that more than 10,000 people have fled fresh attacks by insurgent groups in north-east Nigeria and sought refuge in Niger and Cameroon.

The UNHCR Spokesman, Adrian Edwards, told journalists in Geneva that some of the displaced people were in schools and Churches, and children suffering from poor health.

Edwards said “the UNHCR is very concerned that even once they have crossed into Cameroon, they are still being pursued by insurgents and we have already started to relocate some of the refugees to a camp where they can enjoy safer conditions.’’

Meanwhile, local authorities said at least 9,000 people arrived in Cameroon’s Far North Region in the last 10 days, and more than 2,000 have sought refuge in Lake Chad islands belonging to Niger, while more people continue to arrive.

The new arrivals fled recurrent attacks in the past three weeks in the Gwoza area in Nigeria’s Borno State before reaching safety in Cameroon.

Authorities report that 5,500 refugees arrived in Kolofata, 3,000 in Kerawa and 370 in Mora, in the Mayo Sava and Logone-et-Chari districts of Cameroon.

However, even upon arrival in Cameroon, they were not necessarily out of harm’s way.

On Sunday, insurgents attacked Kerawa town in Cameroon, forcing refugees and some local residents to flee further inland.