UN urges new efforts to defeat Boko Haram terrorists
KANO: Boko Haram terrorists have abducted 22 girls and women in two separate raids in northeast Nigeria, residents and vigilantes said.
In the first attack on Thursday, terrorists raided the village of Pulka near border with Cameroon where they kidnapped 18 girls.
“Boko Haram fighters from Mamman Nur camp arrived in pickup vans around 6 a.m. and seized 14 young girls, ages 17 and below, while residents fled into the bush,” a Pulka community leader told AFP by phone.
“They picked four other girls who were fleeing the raid,” said the community leader who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals.
According to the official, the attackers were loyal to the faction headed by Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, the son of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf.
Barnawi was appointed last year by Daesh to replace leader Abubakar Shekau, who had pledged allegiance to the terrorist group in 2015.
Another resident confirmed the raid and said the girls were likely to end up as brides for the fighters.
“They didn’t harm anyone during the raid and they made no attempt to shoot people running away from the village,” said the resident.
In the second incident, close to Lake Chad, the terrorists killed a herdsman who had tried to escape after refusing to pay protection money, said Adamu Ahmed, a member of an anti- Boko Haram militia.
“When the Boko Haram gunmen came for the money they realized he had left with everything and they decided to go after him on their motorcycles,” Ahmed said.
“They caught up with him near Dumba where they slaughtered him and shot dead 50 of his cattle.
“They took four women from the man’s family and the rest of the herd,” he said.
The promotion of Barnawi had revealed divisions in the group, as Shekau had been criticized for mass killings and suicide attacks against civilians.
Barnawi and his right-hand man Mamman Nur, who is seen as the real leader, had promised residents they would not be harmed as long as they did not cooperate with Nigerian troops fighting Boko Haram.
But in recent weeks the militants have intensified raids in areas near Lake Chad, stealing food from residents.
They have also killed several civilians they accused of cooperating with the military.
On Friday, the UN Security Council called for stepped up efforts to defeat Boko Haram and Daesh militants in Nigeria and the Lake Chad region, and tackle the humanitarian crisis that has left millions facing hunger and possible famine.
A resolution adopted unanimously by the UN’s most powerful body strongly condemned attacks by the militant groups and encouraged greater support to strengthen the capabilities of the multinational force trying to rout them. It said the force needs logistical, mobility and communications assistance and equipment, and better ways to share information.
It expressed “grave concern at the ongoing terrorist attacks” by Boko Haram and Daesh and at “the dire humanitarian situation across the region caused by the activities of Boko Haram.”
The resolution urged the immediate disbursement of the $458 million in humanitarian assistance pledged for the Lake Chad region for 2017 at a donors conference in Oslo and called on those who have not donated to contribute urgently.