UNICEF: 134 malnourished children die every day in humanitarian crisis caused by Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria

The United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) urged to scale up humanitarian support as 134 Nigerian children can die daily from acute malnutrition after Boko Haram unleashed its violence.

The humanitarian organization revealed the devastating picture after visiting the Borno state in northeast Nigeria where about one out of five or 49,000 children of the 244,000 severely malnourished can die if left untreated.

"Some 134 children on average will die every day from causes linked to acute malnutrition if the response is not scaled up quickly," said UNICEF Regional Director for Western and Central Africa, Manuel Fontaine.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international medical humanitarian organization that provides free health care and shelter for the internally displaced in Nigeria, also reported a bleak picture last month after visiting on foot the refugee camp in Bama.

MSF said they found 1,233 graves of those who died of starvation, including children. It also described a health crisis where 19 percent of more than 800 children examined showed signs of severe acute malnutrition.

Fontaine warned that the real state of devastation may yet to be reported as there are still affected areas that remain unreached by humanitarian groups.

"There are 2 million people we are still not able to reach in Borno state, which means that the true scope of this crisis has yet to be revealed to the world,"

So far, the agency only accumulated 41 percent or $23 million out of the $55.5 million needed for humanitarian aid in the region. Fontaine appealed to partners and donors for more help to save the children from dying.

"We need all partners and donors to step forward to prevent any more children from dying," he said. "No one can take on a crisis of this scale alone."

"We must all scale up," added Fontaine.

Boko Haram militant group reportedly killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 2.7 million since its insurgency in 2009.