Médecins Sans Frontières has raised alarm over a worsening humanitarian emergency in Nigeria, citing escalating hunger, disease outbreaks and insecurity that are pushing vulnerable families — especially children — toward death and despair.

In its 2025 Nigeria Country Report, the organisation described overstretched hospitals, rising severe acute malnutrition and communities trapped between poverty and conflict, particularly in northern Nigeria.

The report revealed that more than 250,000 severely malnourished children were treated in outpatient facilities in 2024, while over 76,000 children with serious complications required emergency hospital admission.

MSF warned that the crisis has moved beyond seasonal patterns and has become a chronic emergency driven by inflation, displacement, insecurity and limited access to healthcare.

Across Northwest and Northeast states, MSF-supported facilities are facing surging admissions linked to malnutrition, measles, malaria and respiratory infections, with Bauchi State alone recording nearly 28,000 malnourished children treated between January and April 2025.

The organisation also highlighted the deadly interaction between malaria and malnutrition in Kano and surrounding areas, noting that both conditions are increasing the risk of child mortality.

Many families, according to the report, now arrive at treatment centres only after exhausting coping strategies such as skipping meals, selling assets and withdrawing children from school.

MSF further pointed to insecurity as a major barrier to healthcare delivery, with conflict cutting off millions from medical services and forcing health workers to operate in fragile and high-risk environments.

It also referenced its long-term intervention against Lassa fever in Ebonyi State, where it has now transferred responsibilities to local authorities after supporting treatment and laboratory systems.

Despite ongoing efforts, MSF warned that humanitarian needs are outpacing available resources, calling for urgent investment in nutrition, primary healthcare, disease surveillance and protection for vulnerable populations.