Amnesty International have released a report about the ongoing violence in Nigeria, describing a recent, horrifying series of attacks by Boko Haram as the group’s “deadliest act” yet.
Per a report in The Atlantic, it has come to light that over the past week, the terror group has conducted a series of raids on Baga, a border town near Chad, killing potentially thousands.
Amnesty’s release read:
“If reports that the town was largely razed to the ground and that hundreds or even as many as 2,000 civilians were killed are true, this marks a disturbing and bloody escalation of Boko Haram’s ongoing onslaught against the civilian population.”
That 2000 is an estimated figure, as many are saying that there are “too many bodies to count.” Tragically, “most victims are children, women and elderly people who could not run fast enough when insurgents drove into Baga.”
Reportedly, up to 16 other towns outside Baga have been “wiped out” by extremists. The latest raids come as Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan begins his campaign for reelection.
Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group who have been declared a terrorist organisation by the UN Security Council, have killed thousands in Nigeria, and last April, abducted 276 schoolgirls from Chibok.
Per the Atlantic’s report, the American ambassador to Nigeria spoke out about the devastation last year, saying that: “There is virtually no judicial process involved in this at all. Nobody has been held accountable for the murder of anybody.”
The above image, taken in December last year, shows a man in the Adamawa state capital of Yola, after taking part in an operation against Boko Haram.
Photo: Florian Plaucheur via Getty Images
