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MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — They escaped the Islamic insurgency of Boko Haram -- but now, Nigerian children are facing a new threat in refugee camps: starvation.
As the government investigates the theft of food aid by officials there, children are dying of starvation in the camps in northeastern Nigeria's largest city.
Over the past week, refugees have staged protests nearly every day. Women blocked the main highway to the state capital for five hours, shouting that their children are starving and that they have no drinking water. This, as temperatures soar above 104 degrees.
A spokeswoman for Doctors Without Borders says between 10 and 25 percent of children in a feeding center with 110 beds are dying.
The Associated Press visited the center, and found dozens of babies and children with matchstick limbs and protruding rib cages.
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APPHOTO XSA118: In this Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016 photo, children gather at the Bakassi camp in Maiduguri Nigeria. Children who escaped Boko Haram's Islamic insurgency now are dying of starvation in refugee camps in northeastern Nigeria's largest city as the government investigates the theft of food aid by officials. ( AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) (30 Aug 2016)
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APPHOTO XSA101: A malnourished child has his temperature taken at a feeding centre run by Doctors Without Borders in Maiduguri Nigeria, Monday Aug. 29, 2016. Children who escaped Boko Haram's Islamic insurgency now are dying of starvation in refugee camps in northeastern Nigeria's largest city as the government investigates the theft of food aid by officials. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) (30 Aug 2016)
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