SPECIAL REPORT: How insecurity causes malnutrition for millions of Nigerian children
Three-year-old Salamatu's face was skinny, his eyes sunken, and his little hands and legs tightly covered in flesh.
Wrapped in her mother's arms at a health facility in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, Salamatu struggled to tear herself apart as a nurse wrapped white duct tape around her left arm.
She had suffered from fever, diarrhea and lack of appetite for the past three days, which had left her weak. Salamatu slowly parted her lips as the nurse tried to feed her a peanut butter paste known as RUFT, a treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
Salamatu showed all the symptoms of malnutrition and was one of many malnourished children residing in the Munna Garage IDP camp in Maiduguri, Borno State.
A nurse caring for three-year-old Salamatu at a health facility in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria (PHOTO CREDIT: Nike Adebowale-Tambe)Her mother, Fatsuma Bakari, brought her to the health center after she stopped eating. Although she is three years old, Salamatu's small body resembles that of an 18-month-old child.
"I am sad for my child's health and growth, but I have done my best as a mother to feed Salamatu and her siblings with whatever food I can get," Ms. Bakari said. , mother of six children.
Ms. Bakari said she cooks one good meal a day. In the evening, the family nibbles with what is left or resorts to porridge which they describe as their best meal.
"We can't afford to eat three times a day," she said.
His situation is understandable. Mrs. Bakari and her family were forced to relocate to Munna Garage after their community in Dikwa area of Borno State came under attack and many houses were burnt down by the terrible Boko-Haram sect. /p>
Three-year-old Salamatu's face was skinny, his eyes sunken, and his little hands and legs tightly covered in flesh.
Wrapped in her mother's arms at a health facility in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, Salamatu struggled to tear herself apart as a nurse wrapped white duct tape around her left arm.
She had suffered from fever, diarrhea and lack of appetite for the past three days, which had left her weak. Salamatu slowly parted her lips as the nurse tried to feed her a peanut butter paste known as RUFT, a treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
Salamatu showed all the symptoms of malnutrition and was one of many malnourished children residing in the Munna Garage IDP camp in Maiduguri, Borno State.
A nurse caring for three-year-old Salamatu at a health facility in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria (PHOTO CREDIT: Nike Adebowale-Tambe)Her mother, Fatsuma Bakari, brought her to the health center after she stopped eating. Although she is three years old, Salamatu's small body resembles that of an 18-month-old child.
"I am sad for my child's health and growth, but I have done my best as a mother to feed Salamatu and her siblings with whatever food I can get," Ms. Bakari said. , mother of six children.
Ms. Bakari said she cooks one good meal a day. In the evening, the family nibbles with what is left or resorts to porridge which they describe as their best meal.
"We can't afford to eat three times a day," she said.
His situation is understandable. Mrs. Bakari and her family were forced to relocate to Munna Garage after their community in Dikwa area of Borno State came under attack and many houses were burnt down by the terrible Boko-Haram sect. /p>
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