A new report by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has ignited nationwide outrage after revealing that 652 infants and young children died from hunger-related illnesses in Katsina State during the first half of 2025—nearly nine times the toll recorded in Gaza over the same period.
The MSF report, released on July 25, 2025, shows that Katsina’s child hunger deaths have surpassed those in Gaza, despite the Nigerian state not being a war zone. A UNICEF assessment dated July 24 confirmed that Gaza’s child hunger deaths rose from 52 to 80 in the first six months of 2025, underscoring the severity of the crisis in Katsina.
Human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, have condemned the situation. Amnesty’s Nigeria Country Director, Isah Sanusi, in an exclusive interview with Hobnob News, urged northern governors—especially in Katsina—to declare a state of emergency on child malnutrition.
“This is not only happening in Katsina,” Sanusi warned. “We are seeing similar crises in Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara, where children are dying of hunger and even nursing mothers lack enough food.” He accused the Katsina State Government of treating the emergency “with levity.”
UK-based human rights lawyer and security analyst Bulama Bukarti of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change described the findings as “alarming,” stressing that the figure represents only child deaths. “Adults are not even counted. Ninety percent of households have reduced food intake—some from three meals a day to two, or even one—due to federal policies,” he said, blaming rampant bandit violence for worsening food shortages.
The crisis has taken a toll on displaced families like that of 45-year-old Rabi Salisu from Safana LGA, who told DAILY POST that “many children have died in their struggle to survive. We can’t farm for fear of bandits, markets are unsafe, and attacks happen even in broad daylight.”
The Katsina State Government has acknowledged the report’s findings. Dr. Shamsuddeen Yahaya, Executive Secretary of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, said 25 Outpatient Therapeutic Points were set up last year in five high-burden LGAs to provide nutritional supplements and treatment for children.
Dr. Umar Bello, state coordinator for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) Project, said ANRiN 1.0 reached three million people with micronutrients and counselling, and ANRiN 2.0 will work more closely with ministries to address the root causes of food insecurity.
Despite these pledges, aid agencies warn that without urgent action, the death toll could rise sharply before the end of the year.
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