More than 9,000 tonnes of World Food Program goods are stuck at the Niger-Benin border. Since the coup d’état and the closure of the borders, it has been impossible for the UN agency to deliver humanitarian aid to the country. So on site, the teams look for alternative routes.
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To get to Niger, World Food Program (WFP) convoys usually take two routes: via Benin and the port of Cotonou… or via Nigeria. These two roads are now closed. Only alternative: cross Burkina Faso. But the security situation complicates the task
“ For the moment, the trucks which were intended to return via Benin and Nigeria cannot return, it was not planned for these trucks to return via Burkina Faso, so they must be redirected towards this corridor and that takes time, explains Jean Noel Gentile, WFP representative in Niger. It also takes time to organize this convoy and secure it across Burkina Faso. For the moment, this does not fit, these 163 humanitarian containers have been blocked for several weeks. »
It is therefore necessary to find other alternative routes. “ There are other corridors to consider, for example that of Cameroon and Chad, but these cargo ships would therefore have to be put back on boats towards Cameroon, towards the port of Douala for example, and then cross Cameroon or Chad and arrive as far as Niger. This will also take several weekshe continues. Redirecting these trucks of course has a cost, it takes more time and can also present security challenges, it slows down and hinders our humanitarian operations in Niger. »
Discussions are underway between the WFP and the Nigerien authorities. Objective: to enable the opening of a humanitarian corridor.
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