Boko Haram kidnapped hundreds for human shield, officials say

Hundreds of civilians, including many children, have been kidnapped by Boko Haram extremists who are using them as human shields in Nigeria, officials have said.

Mike Omeri, a Nigerian spokesman, said several hundred people were abducted by the Islamists as they retreated from Damasak in the northeast of Nigeria earlier this month.

Mr Omeri could not specify how many had been kidnapped, but local reports say as many as 500 people were taken.

Mr Omeri said the Islamists went to Damasak’s primary schools and rounded up students and teachers before retreating.

Troops from Chad and Niger recaptured Damasak, near the border with Niger, from Boko Haram on March 16th.

The mass kidnapping was said to have happened as the extremists fled the advancing troops.

Damasak had been held for months by Boko Haram, who used the trading town as an administrative centre.

Mass grave

The troops from Chad and Niger who now hold Damasak have discovered evidence of a mass grave, Chad’s ambassador to the UN Mahamat Zene Cherif confirmed.

The head of the UN refugee agency said that international assistance is needed for the thousands of Nigerian refugees who have fled the violence.

The agency estimates that some 74,000 Nigerians have fled to neighbouring Cameroon, while about 100,000 more have flooded into Chad and Niger. Troops from the three countries are now helping Nigeria to combat the militants and win back Nigerian towns.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said, during a visit to Maroua, the capital of Cameroon’s Far North region, that the refugee agency will funnel more resources to Cameroon.

Mr Guterres said: “Cameroon is today not only a very important protection space for refugees, but it is in the first line of defence of the international community.”

The UN agency says the Nigerian crisis is one of the most underfunded in the world. In February, the agency asked for $71 million (€64.7 million) to assist displaced people in Nigeria and neighbouring countries.

Already, that figure appears to be too low. Mr Guterres said the agency has received only $6.8 million (€6.2 million) in donations so far.

Reuters