CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (CAR)
THREE PEOPLE KIDNAPPED IN BANGUI
In retaliation for the capture of its leader, Rodrigue Ngaibona (Andilo), anti-Balaka elements kidnapped on 19 January, a French woman working for an international NGO and a priest. The day after, they also detained for some time a staff member of the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSCA). Anti-Balaka elements are demanding the release of their leader.
CAMEROON
80 PEOPLE ABDUCTED IN MOKOLO
Boko Haram attacked villages in Mokolo department in northern Cameroon on 18 January. They abducted 80 young people and torched houses. Such mass kidnapping on Cameroonian soil by the insurgents is unprecedented. The attack happened as Cameroonian forces were joined by Chadian troops to fight the insurgents.
CHAD
13,000 NIGERIANS ARRIVE IN CHAD
Some 13,000 refugees have arrived in Chad’s Lake Region since the attacks on Baga in Nigeria on 3 and 7 January 2014. Dozens of refugees continue to arrive every day, many by canoe over Lake Chad to areas such as Ngouboua and Bagasola. UNHCR and government authorities have started the relocation of some 2,000 refugees to the newly-opened site of Dar es Salam. Some 16,000 Nigerian refugees, including the latest influx, have arrived in Chad since May 2013.
NIGERIA
10 KILLED IN LATEST BOKO HARAM ATTACKS
Four people were killed and 36 others injured in an explosion in Potiskum, Yobe State on 18 January. It was the third suicide bombing in the area in three weeks. In Bauchi, the insurgents attacked a military checkpoint in Takanda-Giwa on the Bauchi-Jos highway. Five soldiers and a civilian were reportedly killed.
CHILDREN IN NORTHEASTERN NIGERIA NEED PROTECTION
On 17 January, the United Nations Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict called for an urgent action to protect children in northeastern Nigeria following a week-long visit, noting that children in the region are in desperate need of protection from the insurgency.
REGIONAL / EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE (EVD)
MALI DECLARED EBOLA-FREE
Mali was declared Ebola-free on 18 January after 42 days since the last patient tested negative for the virus.
21,373 CASES AND 8,468 DEATHS The three countries worst affected by Ebola, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, have all recorded decline in the spread of the virus. As of 19 January, 21,373 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of EVD have been reported in these three affected countries where there have been 8,468 reported deaths.
