Pretoria – Twenty people, mostly women and children, were trampled to death on Monday during the distribution of food and money among refugees in Diffa, southeast Niger, news website Today Nigeria reported.
The publication said aid workers confirmed the incident, adding that about 10 people were injured.
The region has been repeatedly hit by attacks by Nigeria’s Boko Haram jihadist group since 2015.
United Nations figures released in October show that the region hosts some 119 000 Nigerian refugees, 109 000 internally-displaced people and 30 000 Nigeriens who have come home from Nigeria because of the instability in the northeast.
The aid being distributed was given by Babagana Umara Zulum, the governor of Borno state in northeast Nigeria, an official told news agency AFP.