Boko Haram. File photo
from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – THE Boko Haram has killed 38 United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers in Nigeria since 2011.
Ten of the victims have been killed in the past 18 months.
Six more are missing.
Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, disclosed the figures in an update of the situation in northeast Nigeria.
The area is under siege from the Boko Haram, an Islamist group involved in a violent campaign to overthrow the Nigerian government.
Over 30 000 people have been killed while more than three million others displaced during the conflict that began ten years ago.
“Ten years of conflict and violence perpetrated by Boko Haram and other non-state armed groups have devastated communities,” Lowcock lamented.
More than 7 million people currently need humanitarian assistance in the states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
Lowcock expressed concern that more than 140 000 people forced to move this year alone because of renewed violence.
The Nigerian military has meanwhile been accused of violating the rights of civilians during the crackdown against the Boko Haram militants.
“Military action needs to be proportionate and avoid adding to the plight of civilians, huge numbers of whom have suffered terribly as a result of the actions of the terrorists and insurgents,” Lowcock said.
Boko Haram has continued its attacks against Nigeria despite the government declaring the military had “technically defeated” the terror group.
– CAJ News