Half a million children have fled attacks in northeast Nigeria from the Islamic militant group Boko Haram over the past five months, UNICEF said in a report released Friday. And the number of displaced only continues to grow.
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“The rights of our people as entrenched in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) as amended, to worship and choose their religion has been violated by the terrorists, who left no one in doubt that they want everyone to follow their ways”.
Another 65,000 displaced and refugee children have had access to education and are able to continue their learning thanks to the delivery of school materials, with almost 72,000 displaced children receiving counselling and psychosocial support.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has called on Nigerian Christian community, particularly those in North East states to forgive members of the Boko Haram Islamist sect.
The report titled” Human rights under fire: attacks and violations in Cameroon’s struggle with Boko Haram, ‘ is said to “documents how Boko Haram has killed at least 380 civilians since January 2014′.
Buhari, who won the presidential election against incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in March, ran largely on a campaign of increased security.
More than 100 people have been killed in nine suicide attacks since July in the region, leading Yaounde to beef up its military presence with backing from neighbouring Chad.
The exact same early September day, a double suicide bombing that bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram killed 19 people in Cameroon that is nearby. That threat prompted governments in Chad, Niger, and Cameroon to ban the full-face Muslim veil, which they claimed allowed young women to hide their identities when they entered public spaces with bombs strapped to their bodies.
“This training is to reorient the affected soldiers and prepare them for this closing stage of the operational aspect of the counter insurgency operations with more weapons and new leadership”. Some 208,000 are out of school and more than 83,000 lack access to safe drinking water.
More than 315,000 children have been vaccinated against measles.
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UNICEF works through voluntary donations to help save the lives of children by providing them with health care, vaccinations, safe water, food, security, schooling, and emergency relief.
