No fewer than 80 children were used and killed as suicide bombers this year, leading to the death of more than 20,000 people in the North East, especially Borno State, the epicentre of an eight- year-old conflict, United Nations report indicates.
The United Nations Under Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Mark Lowcock stated this this at a joint press conference after he had a closed-door meeting with Deputy Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Usman Durkwa on Tuesday in Maiduguri.
Lowcock described as worrisome the unrelenting atrocities of Boko Haram insurgents who armed with AK47 rifles, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and petrol bombs invaded some communities in Jere Local Government Area of Borno State, killed unspecified number of people and destroyed houses and crops.
He said the purpose of his visit to the war-torn region was to assess humanitarian crisis, highlight the needs of affected populations and communities, study the response activities of the UN, partners and government and know the existing challenges and plans to scale up the response.
The Chairman of State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Engineer Ahmed Satomi who confirmed the recent attacks to our correspondent said, “The recent attacks on villages took place simultaneously from last Saturday to Sunday this week, and thousands of displaced persons who fled the attacks are taking refuge in Tungushe Village temporary make- shift camp, few kilometres from Maiduguri Metropolis”.
