It was reported that some Nigerian evacuees told to leave neighbouring Niger in the past week because of the threats from deadly Boko Haram sect died of starving en route.

“I counted over 50 people that died on our way out of (the town of) Lalewa when the Niger soldiers were chasing us as if we are animals,” said 45-year old Ibrahim, one of the group who was originally from Nigeria’s Kebbi state.

According to the United Nations humanitarian coordinator OCHA 25,000 people had arrived in the towns of N’Guigmi and Bosso in southeastern Niger after escaping their island homes on Lake Chad. OCHA said most of these families needed shelter, food and water.

The governor of Niger’s Diffa region firstly told people to flee by Monday for security reasons after an attack by Nigeria-based Boko Haram, which killed 74 people. The time limit has been prolonged to Thursday evening, May 7.

Six-year Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria has seen thousands killed and evacuated about 1.5 million people in the country.

Nigerians who run to the Nigerian border said they had been called out of their homes, lined up and cruelly hassled out with no provisions.

Musa Samaila, a fisherman from Lalewa, said he had trekked for three days and his son had died of dehydration in his arms.

“I can’t believe what happened that the government of Niger just woke up and decided to chase us out of a place where we have been doing business for years,” Samaila said.

Niger’s prime minister said the country was supplying food and healthcare to those who arrived at the camps in N’Guigmi and Bosso while thousands of other Nigerians had been evacuated.

One of those who fled, Hanatu Saidu, told reporters that her husband had been shot by a Nigerien soldier in the leg when troops came to their town and told them to flee.

There was no systematic process for evacuating the Nigerians, some of the refugees said.

It was gathered that some of the evacuees were put on trucks at the border town of Mainé-Soroa and taken to two camps in Geidam in Nigeria’s Yobe state, set up in a primary school and a small stadium. Others sauntered the whole way or got rides for part of the way.

“The need arose because the Niger government wanted to conduct military operations in those areas,” Air Commodore Charles Otedegba, director of Search and Rescue at NEMA said.

“They offered to relocate the Nigerians citizens to some of the IDPs (internally displaced people) camps within Niger but the people refused and chose to come back home.”

Boko Haram got an angling point at the end of 2014. It took control of an area larger than European country and became a regional threat after growing incursions into neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

A combined operation between Nigeria and its neighbours since the start of this year has broken the militant force into pockets in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state and areas in and around Lake Chad.

It upholds a reduction stronghold in the vast Sambisa forest reserve, which the Nigerian military is working to free.

It should be noted that Nigerian army has recently confirmed the escaping of 25 more victims of Boko Haram.

READ MORE: http://www.naij.com/434655-niger-chases-out-boko-haram-refugees.html