The terrorist group part of IS, Boko Haram, is using civilians as human shields as its fighters run away from the area, after an offensive by multinational forces, a Nigerian official said today.
The director general of the National Orientation Agency, Mike Omeri, did not say how many people are being used for this horrific act.
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Waiting On Reports
“Some say 500, some 400, some say 300,” but Omeri said he was waiting on various reports from authorities on the ground around Damasak, a town near the border with Niger that was taken back by the troops on March 16.
Omeri highlighted that this tactic by the group is nothing new and that authorities are investigating.
He did mention that, as troops advanced and cornered members of the group, they decided to rush into a school where people had been held after the insurgents took control of the town late last year.
Damasak
Some women and children were released, but they still have some people there. He said the group members and those being used as shields are in Damasak.
The troops who took back Damasak, found the town mostly empty. The soldiers from Chad and Niger, who now have control of Damasak, have found evidence of a mass grave in the area, Chad’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mahamat Zene Cherif, confirmed Wednesday.
Boko Haram has killed thousands of innocent people and kidnapped hundreds more to force them to join their ranks. The group is focused on creating an Islamic State.
Mass Kidnapping
The group was little known until they carried out a mass kidnapping almost a year ago of 276 girls from a
school in northeast Chibok town. A few of the escaped days after, but more than 200 girls are still missing. There’s no information about them and the search has spread on social media, where a campaign with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls is getting lots of attention.
Elections
Nigeria’s fight against the terrorist group is a major problem for the presidential elections coming up next Saturday. Countries around the world are concerned over the huge death toll of an estimated 10,000 killed last year. Boko Haram has said that they’re going to violently interrupt the president elections.
Thousands of Nigerian refugees are in desperate need of assistance from other countries and the United Nation, who’s camps are not enough. How much will the threats from the terrorist group impact the elections?
At one of the camps, refugees aren’t getting enough to eat or drink. This is only one of the problems, the other two being the lack of toilets and medical supplies.
United Nation’s refugee agency says the situation hasn’t gathered enough attention for international support and that violence in Nigeria has forced almost 200,000 people to leave the nation.
United Nation’s Antonio Guterres, a commissioner for refugees, said the agency will bring more resources to the affected areas, but he reminded the rest of the world that they’ve only received 3 percent of the funding necessary to fully run things.
[quote_center]”Every country in the world needs to understand that Cameroon is not only protecting itself, Cameroon is protecting all of us,” he said.[/quote_center]
