Nigerians flee Boko Haram to deserted Chad island

Thousands of Nigerians have landed on an uninhabited island in Lake Chad after have fleeing their homes in efforts to escape Boko Haram militants carrying out violent attacks in north east Nigeria, according to the United Nations. UNHCR spokesperson Ariane Rummery told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday: "Thousands of people fleeing attacks by Boko Haram on the Nigerian city of Kolikolia, in Borno State, arrived last Thursday on the uninhabited island of Choua in Lake Chad. "Refugees reported that they had fled violence by Boko Haram, who attacked their villages and burned their homes." Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said in a statement: "Some 997 people had arrived on the island on Friday ... at the border with Nigeria, and had requested humanitarian assisstance." He said the refugees were mainly women and children who had fled Kolikolia after being attacked. "The United Nations has provided crucial, life-saving supplies by airlift to nearly 1,000 people who arrived in a hard-to-reach area of western Chad," he said, adding that a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies was expected to leave the Chadian capital of N'Djamena by end of the week heading for the village of Ngouboun near Lake Chad.