Kanu Leads African All-Stars in Charity Match for Boko Haram Displaced Persons

Kanu Leads African All-Stars in Charity Match for Boko Haram Displaced Persons

Nigeria’s former Arsenal striker Nwankwo Kanu led a team of African all-stars in a charity football match on Thursday, to raise money for people displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency and highlight their plight.

Kanu, Senegal’s El-Hadji Diouf, Fabian McCarthy of South Africa and Cyrille Mubiala from the Democratic Republic of Congo were in a side that took on Nigeria Premier League side Kano Pillars at the Kano’s Abacha Stadium.

Ticket sales from the “Match for IDPS” (international displaced persons) will be combined with money from a charity dinner to support those made homeless by the eight-year conflict.

With farmers killed and land blighted by conflict, food shortages have been widespread, forcing IDPs to rely on handouts from international aid agencies, who have had to scale back operations because of a lack of funding.

IDPs remain vulnerable to continued Boko Haram attacks, particularly from suicide bombers, while women and young girls have been exposed to sexual abuse in the camps, including from security personnel and officials.

Match organiser Abi Goodman said: “We want to use football to communicate with the people about what is going on in the IDP camps.

“What we are doing is a drop in the ocean as the IDP needs are so huge.

“But we want to use this as a rallying point for the government, wealthy individuals and Nigerians living abroad to support the IDPs,” she added.