BEVERLY HILLS, September 5, (THEWILL) – Data compiled by Amnesty International, AI, has revealed the killing of over 223 civilians in Nigeria’s North-East by Boko Haram terrorists since April 2017. It also showed that no fewer than 158 people were also killed in neighbouring Cameroon by the terror sect within the same period.
The global human rights body stated that most of the attacks occurred in Borno state with many of the suicide missions perpetrated by women and girls forced into the act.
The attacks have continued despite the efforts by the Nigerian military and its neighbouring partners to combat the terror group whose activities have caused about 100,000 deaths since 2009.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by its Director for West and Central Africa, Alioune Tine, Amnesty disclosed that its data indicated an increase in Boko Haram attacks when April to early September 2017 is compared to the corresponding period in 2016.
It added that a sharp rise in civilian deaths in the far North region of Cameroun and the Nigerian states of Borno and Adamawa has been driven by the armed group’s increased use of suicide bombers, often using women and girls who are forced to carry explosives into crowded areas.
“Boko Haram is once again committing war crimes on a huge scale, exemplified by the depravity of forcing young girls to carry explosives with the sole intention of killing as many people as they possibly can.
“This wave of shocking Boko Haram violence, propelled by a sharp rise in suicide bombings, highlights the urgent need for protection and assistance for millions of civilians in the Lake Chad region. Governments in Nigeria, Cameroun and beyond must take swift action to protect them from this campaign of terror,” AI said.
In the North-Eastern Nigeria, Amnesty added that mass killings and abductions by Boko Haram have led to the killing of at least 223 civilians since April, saying that the real figure might be higher still as some attacks might have gone unreported.
The group further stated that between May and August, seven times more civilians were killed than in the preceding four months, while 100 civilians were killed in August alone.
It said that the deadliest attack came on 25 July, when the armed group shot dead 40 people and abducted three others in an ambush on an oil exploration team in the Magumeri area of Borno State.
AI added: ‘’Boko Haram suicide bombers have killed at least 81 people in Nigeria since April, while 67 people have been abducted – mostly women and girls – since the start of the year.
‘’There have been two reports of raids on villages in August, in which Boko Haram fighters rounded up and shot civilians, burned down homes and stole from people’s houses, shops and markets,’’ it stated.
In Cameroun, the global human rights group said that the deadly terrorist group had killed at least 158 civilians since April, four times more than in the preceding five months, adding that the recent spike in casualties had been driven by increased suicide attacks, with 30 attacks at more than one per week, carried out since the beginning of April.
The deadliest attack was said to have taken place in Waza on July 12, when 16 civilians were killed and at least 34 injured after a young girl was forced to carry and detonate a bomb in a crowded video game centre.
The town of Kolofata, in the Mayo-Sava district, has been especially targeted with nine attacks since April. Mora, the second largest urban centre in the Far North region, has also been hit three times.
The group further pointed out that the displacement of Boko Haram fighters from the Sambisa Forest in Nigeria to the Mandara Mountains in Cameroun, following operations conducted by the Nigerian military, may explain some of the increase in attacks in Cameroon.
