425 killed in 2011 by Boko Haram – HRW Featured
Written by Ade Adesomoju


Bombed Abuja UN building Bombed Abuja UN building File


No fewer than 425 persons, including policemen and soldiers, have been killed this year by the fundamentalist Islamic sect, Boko Haram.



An international rights group, Human Rights Watch, which gave the figure added that Boko Haram killed 800 people in 2009.

It put the number of policemen that lost their lives to the activities of the sect this year at 70 as against 30 in 2009.

The casualty figures were contained in a statement made available to our correspondent on Tuesday by the HRW.

According to the statement by the group’s Senior West Africa Researcher, Corinne Dufka, last Saturday’s attacks by the sect in Yobe and Borno states were "indefensible."

Dufka said, "Boko Haram has once again demonstrated its utter disregard for human life. The authorities should act swiftly to bring to justice those responsible for these terrible crimes and for earlier attacks that left hundreds dead."

HRW stated that the latest attacks, "including an apparent suicide car bombing" in Damaturu, Potiskum and Maiduguri on November 4 alone, "resulted in the highest death toll in a single day since Boko Haram began its campaign of violence in Nigeria in July 2009."

According to Dufka, those killed this year included soldiers, community leaders, politicians, Islamic clerics, pastors and church members.

The HRW, which stated that it had documented "serious abuses, including extrajudicial executions, by the Nigerian Police and military in response to the Boko Haram violence," urged the Federal Government to ensure that security agencies complied with international human rights standard in their operations.

It said, "The Nigerian authorities need to ensure that all law enforcement operations in response to Boko Haram are conducted in full accordance with international human rights standards.

"The most effective way to counter the abhorrent tactics employed by groups like Boko Haram is to scrupulously adhere to respect for human rights and the rule of law."

Twenty-four persons were killed and more than 100 others injured in a suicide car bomb attack, which the group claimed responsibility for at the United Nations, Abuja, on August 26.

Dufka also recalled that more than 800 people, including 30 police officers, died in July 2009 in a five-day clash between Boko Haram, and members of the security forces in Borno, Yobe, Bauchi and Kano states.

The HRW therefore urged the Federal Government to act speedily to bring those behind the attacks in the country to book.

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