No fewer than 1.2 million people are at risk of explosive mines action in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.
The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Matthias Schmale made the declaration in Abuja yesterday.
At the 2022 International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, Schmale of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, said 1.2 million people needed life-saving assistance in the three states.
He noted that explosive ordnance in their different forms continued to represent immediate, grave and additional threat to already suffering populations in Northeast Nigeria.
He said the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) collated 1,532 incidents in the region involving explosive hazards from January 2016 to January 2022 involving more than 10,000 causalities.
About 1,356 civilians were injured and 789 killed from the number of causalities recorded, he added.
Schmale said in January 2019, Mine Action organisations provided critical life-saving information to mitigate the risk of explosive ordnance by educating more than 1.2 million Nigerians in conflict-affected communities.
He also said in order to reinforce national capacities for explosive ordnance management, UNMAS conducted Improvised Explosives Devices (IED) disposal training for 26 Explosives Ordnance Department operators of the Nigeria Police Force in Borno State.
He encouraged the activation of a National Mine Action Centre and the development of a national mine action strategy for the survey and clearance of mines and other explosives in affected areas.
Retired Group Captain Sadeeq Shehu, Technical Adviser to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, said IEDs were discovered in eight public places in the region.
He noted that the development was dangerous to the people. He advised that some mine risk awareness education be conducted for people in affected areas to sensitise them to the need of inviting experts wherever they found IEDs.
Shehu said the government had the responsibility to cater and to support victims of detonated IEDs to sustain their livelihoods.