Askira/Uba is a
Local Government Area of
Borno State,
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. Its headquarters are in the town of Askira.
It has an area of 2,362 km and a population of 138,091 at the 2006 census.
The
postal code
A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...
of the area is 601.
One of the villages of Askira/Uba,
Lassa, was the origin of a new virus found in the blood of returning American missionaries, and first identified by a
virology research team in a laboratory at Yale University, who named it "
Lassa virus
''Lassa mammarenavirus'' (LASV) is an arenavirus that causes Lassa hemorrhagic fever,
a type of viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF), in humans and other primates. ''Lassa mammarenavirus'' is an emerging virus and a select agent, requiring Biosafet ...
" after the location where it first appeared.
In July 2014, the villages of Huyim and Dille in Askira/Uba LGA were attacked by suspected
Boko Haram gunmen, with nine and thirty-eight deaths respectively. The attackers came from the
Sambisa Forest
The Sambisa Forest is a forest in Borno State, northeast Nigeria. It is in the southwestern part of Chad Basin National Park, about 60km southeast of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. It has an area of 518 km².
Geography
The Sambisa fore ...
. Displaced residents "need help from governments and spirited individuals."
References
Local Government Areas in Borno State
Populated places in Borno State
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