New UN report says, ‘fear of Boko Haram attack sees 30,000 flee town of Rann and across the border to Cameroon’

A new UN report on Tuesday says more than 30,000 people have fled the northeast Nigerian town of Rann and across the border to Cameroon in recent days because of fears of renewed Boko Haram attack.

The latest mass movement comes as the world body voiced renewed concern about the effect of the bloody conflict on civilians and launched a longer-term plan to help those made homeless by the fighting.

Rann, in northern Borno state, near the border with Cameroon, has been repeatedly attacked by Boko Haram, most recently on January 14, when the jihadists targeted a military base. UN refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva that recent fighting in Borno had forced more than 80,000 people to flee their homes.

“Nigerian refugees continue to arrive in very remote and impoverished communities in neighbouring countries. All the population seems to be panicking and they are on the run as a preemptive measure to save their lives” he added.

Humanitarian organisations working in Rann said the attack earlier this month forced some 9,000 people to flee into Cameroon. But they were sent back, as Cameroon deployed troops to reinforce the town as part of the regional military response against the Islamist militants.

“It was a bit peaceful but as far as we understand now, that multinational taskforce has left,” said Baloch, adding that refugees had told aid workers Boko Haram “promised to return”. Walid Abdallahi, who was among those who fled, said there was now “not a single resident in Rann” and that Boko Haram had been “in control” of the town since Monday.

“We all left the town as soon as the Cameroonian soldiers withdrew because we knew we were vulnerable to Boko Haram who would no doubt launch an attack,” he told AFP.

Abadallahi said the remaining Nigerian soldiers also withdrew “because their number was too small to face Boko Haram when they attacked”. His account was supported by an aid worker who left Rann after the January 14 attack but remains in contact with those in the area, and a civilian militia source.

“There were over 35,000 IDPs (internally displaced people) in Rann and all of them have fled to Cameroon,” the aid worker added. The civilian militia source said Cameroonian soldiers withdrew on Sunday and Nigerian troops were now based in Ngala, nearly 40 kilometres (25 miles) away. “The terrorists set fire to most houses in the town and have taken strategic positions in anticipation of military operations to push them out,” he added.