More than 500,000 people are living in catastrophic and unsanitary conditions in a number of villages and towns across Borno state, northeastern Nigeria, according to international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which is calling for the provision of emergency aid for those people in immediate danger.

The area around Banki, accessible only with a military escort, is currently sheltering some 15,000 people, the vast majority of them displaced from their homes by conflict. MSF medical teams estimate extremely high mortality rates. As many as one in 12 of the population may have died in the past six months, the organisation found after carrying out a rapid assessment of the local population.

The inhabitants of this region have suffered for years from the direct impact of the conflict between Boko Haram and the armies in the region. Forced to leave their homes by attacks and fighting, today they are faced with a local economy that has collapsed, trade routes that have been cut and crops and livestock that have been destroyed. Much of the population has been affected by months of food shortages, and their health situation is now catastrophic.

For children under five, in particular, the situation is especially concerning. Fifteen percent of children screened by our teams are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, putting their lives at risk. In the town of Banki, nearly one in three children is malnourished.

To respond to this humanitarian emergency, between 20 and 22 July MSF teams provided therapeutic feeding to more than 4,900 children and vaccinated them against measles. A total of 3,600 families received emergency food aid and our teams were able to transfer six people in a critical condition to a hospital in Mora, Cameroon. In Banki, MSF will also continue to provide clean water and improve sanitation.

The situation in Banki is similar to that found by the Nigerian authorities and other MSF teams and aid organisations in different parts of Borno state. In the town of Bama, for example, MSF teams estimate that 15 percent of children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.