The lingering terrorists activities in Burkina Faso has cut out the northern part of the country, particularly the town of Djibo from receiving food aid, medicals and other necessities.
The extent of the blockage is much that help can’t come for the people in the north town who are faced with all the challenges: extremism, drought, and coups.
The activities have also restricted movement in and out of the city and cut water supplies. Few truckers want to run the jihadist gauntlet.
A UN team flew in to assess the situation but stayed for just a few hours due to the threat level.
One of the residents in the community, Mamoudou Oumarou, a 53-year-old father of 13 who fled his village in February told newsmen that they had no food or water, while the few grains available in the market had spiked in price and their animals were dying.
“We have been living here for three months. Animals are not being bought. Most of the animals I came with here died of hunger. When you sell five animals and go to the market you can’t get a bag of food to eat. You can’t even see food. You can look for food in vain,” said Oumarou.
The Director of Seracom, a local aid group in Djibo, Alpha Ousmane Dao, also commented that some 600 trucks used to enter Djibo monthly, now it’s less than 50 a week, said
Adding his voice to the situation, the country director for the World Food Programme in Burkina Faso, Antoine Renard also said as a result of Djibo’s blockade, the World Food Program has been unable to deliver food to the town since December and stocks are running out.
“We are in clear need of access to the area. All we do now is actually to sustain a quarter of the population for any goods that manage to come into the city,” he said.
Terrorist activity in Burkina Faso has involved religious terrorism conducted by foreign-based organizations, although some activity occurs because of communal frustration over the lack of economic development. Recent attacks are concentrated in the Hauts-Bassins, Boucle du Mouhoun, Nord, Sahel, and East regions, along the border with Mali and Niger.
A series of attacks in Ouagadougou in 2016, 2017, and 2018 by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its affiliates was particularly deadly, garnering international attention.