Nigerians return from Cameroon to disquiet
At least 10,000 Nigerians have returned to a flashpoint town overrun by Boko Haram after fleeing into Cameroon to escape repeated attacks over the past few months, a UN humanitarian report says.
The returnees were among 40,386 civilians who had fled four attacks on the town of Rann since December, the report said.
All those who fled were then ordered to return to northeast Nigeria.
"Reports from sources on the ground indicate that hundreds more are en route to Rann from Cameroon by foot," the UN report said.
"All these people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance."
Earlier this month the militant group Boko Haram killed at least 60 people in Rann after it was abandoned by the military, Amnesty International said.
That attack came two weeks after Boko Haram overran the town, driving out Nigerian soldiers and signalling the group's re-emergence as a major force.
Last month Cameroon was criticised by the UN refugee agency for sending 9000 people back to Rann and refusing them asylum, breaching the international principle of "non-refoulement" of refugees.
It said aid workers had not been able to return to Rann since January.
The return to Rann came on the day when Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari was declared to have comfortably won a second term, but his main rival planned a fraud challenge after a vote marred by delays and violence.
Australian Associated Press