The United Nations office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has condemned the Easter Sunday Boko Haram attack in the Jere Local Government Area of Borno State, noting that at least 120 civilians has so far been killed by the terrorists in 2018.
The UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Yassine Gaba, who stated this in a statement, quoted local sources as saying that 34 persons were killed and 90 others injured in the Easter Sunday attack on Bale Kura, Bale Shuwari, Jamine and Alikaramti villages in the Jere Local Government Area.
The police had confirmed on Monday that 25 persons died in suicide bombings at a wedding in Jere, where five male suicide bombers detonated Improvised Explosive Devices.
The Borno State Commissioner of Police, Damian Chukwu, said 18 victims died on the spot while two died later.
The UN said on Tuesday that the recent weeks witnessed a steady increase of attacks by Boko Haram on civilians in the North-Eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, and urged “the parties to end the conflict and respect human lives and dignity.”
The UN statement read, “The UN DHC in Nigeria, Mr. Yassine Gaba, who is also the acting humanitarian coordinator of the body, strongly condemns the deadly combined attack which took place on Sunday, April 1. According to local sources, at least 34 civilians lost their lives in this attack and some 90 others were injured.
“The recent weeks have seen a steady continuation of attacks on civilians in the three most conflict-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. Since the beginning of the year, at least 120 women, children and men have been killed and over 210 sustained serious injuries in over 22 attacks allegedly by non-state armed groups directly targeting civilians. Civilians are also regularly abducted, as in Dapchi, Yobe State, where 110 schoolgirls were taken on February 19.”
The UN said more than 7.7 million people remained in dire need of humanitarian assistance, including food, shelter, water and health care in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
“Women, children and men face daily grave human rights violations and sexual and gender-based violence. Since the start of the conflict in 2009, more than 20,000 people have been killed, thousands of girls, women, boys and men have been abducted and children continue to be used routinely as so-called suicide bombers,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Uche Secondus, has condoled with the victims of the attacks.
Secondus described the “senseless bombing” that led to the loss of over 34 lives as very unfortunate and condemnable.
The PDP boss said in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Mr. Ike Abonyi, in Abuja on Tuesday that his heart and that of other well-meaning Nigerians were with the families who lost their beloved ones.
He urged security agencies operating in the area to review their strategies towards averting the killing of innocent persons.
Secondus also charged President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government to ensure that the humanitarian situation in the region was not allowed to deteriorate.
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