Nguetchewe attack

Since 2014, Boko Haram has launched regular attacks throughout northeastern Nigeria and neighboring regions, typically aimed with stealing livestock and food. The group, which formed in 2009, has had an armed campaign in the northeastern regions of Nigeria that has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people and displacement of millions.[1] According to the UN Refugee Agency, violence committed by Boko Haram has affected some 26 million people in the Lake Chad region and displaced 2.6 million others.[2]

An attack by Boko Haram occurred in the early hours of August 2, 2020, at a IDP camp in the village of Nguetchewe, Far North Region, Cameroon.[3] According to district mayor Medjeweh Boukar, "the assailants in the early hours of Sunday threw a grenade into a group of sleeping people inside the camp." The camp, which housed 800 people at the time of the attack, had been a relative calm for the past few weeks.[1] "They [Boko Haram] took advantage of their knowledge of the terrain to bypass surveillance points and the positions of the security forces. They surprised us," said local mayor Mahamat Chetima Abba. The attack occurred in Mozogo district, near the Nigerian-Cameroon border in the Far North region.[1] Following the attack, some of the wounded were evacuated to nearby Mokolo district hospital while some 1,500 people, including terrified residents of the hosting village, have fled to the nearby town of Mozogo for safety.[3]

The UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, strongly condemned the attack and deployed an emergency mission to the area. The mission assessed the situation and evaluated the protection and health needs of those affected.[3]