The United Nations has suspended a critical air service in northeast Nigeria due to severe funding shortfalls, raising fears of a deeper humanitarian crisis in the conflict-hit region.
The U.N. Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), operated by the World Food Programme (WFP), last week ended its fixed-wing operations after nearly a decade of flying aid workers and relief supplies into hard-to-reach areas.
“In 2024, UNHAS carried more than 9,000 passengers. Already this year, 4,500 humanitarian staff have relied on the service to reach affected communities,” U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York on Wednesday. “UNHAS cannot continue without funding: $5.4 million is needed to remain operational for the next six months.”
For nine years, UNHAS has been the only safe link for humanitarian personnel, medical supplies, and critical cargo into Borno and Yobe states, the epicentre of Nigeria’s 16-year insurgency. With road travel still extremely dangerous, the suspension cuts off access to communities already devastated by violence and hunger.
The shutdown comes amid a worsening financial crisis at WFP, which in July warned it might suspend food and nutrition aid for 1.3 million people in the northeast.
WFP’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Margot van der Velden, said $5.4 million is urgently needed just to keep the service running for six months.
Although Nigeria’s government has become the largest financier of the northeast response, the U.N. stressed that international support remains crucial. “Without air links, humanitarian workers lose safe access to remote, conflict-affected communities, where millions are already grappling with hunger, displacement, and violence,” Dujarric warned.
The U.N. cautioned that without urgent donor support, families may face worsening hunger, forced displacement under unsafe conditions, or exploitation by extremist groups.
The crisis in northeast Nigeria is one of the world’s most protracted emergencies, with millions displaced and reliant on aid. The suspension of UNHAS, humanitarian agencies say, risks isolating vulnerable populations “at a time when they can least afford it.”
