Boko Haram terrorists have already killed at least 120 civilians this year, including more than 30 on Easter Sunday alone, the United Nations reported.
The report surfaced as the Nigerian government considers forgiving “repentant” members of the jihadist group for all their transgressions.
Jihadists from Boko Haram have also seriously wounded at least 210 civilians so far this year, bringing the number of 2018 casualties (deaths and injuries) to 330.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted that since the Nigeria-based Boko Haram group surfaced in 2009: “More than 20,000 people have been killed, thousands of girls, women, boys and men have been abducted and children continue to be used routinely as so-called ‘suicide’ bombers.”
OCHA added:
The recent weeks have seen a steady continuation of attacks on civilians in the three most conflict-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, in the north-east of Nigeria. Since the beginning of the year, reportedly, at least 120 civilian women, children and men were killed and over 210 sustained serious injuries, in over 22 attacks allegedly by non-state armed groups directly targeting civilians.
Mr. Yassine Gaba, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, declared:
Innocent civilians continue to suffer daily from direct and indiscriminate attacks in the north-east of Nigeria. Endless numbers of explosions, brutal killings, abductions and looting continue to uproot the lives of women, children and men daily. I call on all parties to the conflict to end this violence and to respect human life and dignity.
Citing the Global Terrorism Index, the U.S. State Department deemed the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL)-linked Boko Haram the world’s deadliest terrorist group in 2014. Nevertheless, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari vowed on March 23 to grant amnesty to Boko Haram jihadists who drop their weapons and embrace peace.
As the terrorist group released most of the 110 girls it recently kidnapped, except for one who refused to convert to Islam, Buhari said:
While further efforts are being made to secure the release of every abducted citizen in Nigeria, the government is ever ready to accept the unconditional laying down of arms by any member of the Boko Haram group who shows strong commitment in that regard.
We are ready to rehabilitate and integrate such repentant members into the larger society. This country has suffered enough of hostility. Government is, therefore, appealing to all to embrace peace for the overall development of our people and the country.
Now, the U.N. reports that Gaba “strongly condemns” the heinous Boko Haram attack on Easter Sunday that killed 34 civilians and wounded 90 others.
The attack took place in the terrorist group’s birthplace of Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria’s Borno state.
On several occasions, the Buhari administration in Nigeria has falsely claimed that his government defeated Boko Haram.
ISIS-West Africa, which the U.S. military has recently described as a Boko Haram offshoot, also operates in Nigeria.
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