Genocide Watch

THE INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END GENOCIDE

Genocide Emergency Alert: Boko Haram in Nigeria and Cameroon 4 September 2014 Update

The jihadist terrorist organization, Boko Haram continues to be a severe threat to the stability of Nigeria.The group has a genocidal ideology. Its goal is to wipe out Christian and government institutions throughout Nigeria, Cameroon, and West and Central Africa. Its methodology is terror and mass murder. Its crimes have proven Genocide Watch’s warnings in 2012.

Since the resurgence of Boko Haram in 2010, it has perpetrated many genocidal massacres against the Nigerian and Cameroonian civilian populations. In 2014, Boko Haram escalated its crimes against humanity.

Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds of children from villages and boarding schools. Many of the kidnapped girls have been brutally ripped from their families and are used as sex slaves, housekeepers and “wives” for Boko Haram fighters, and most recently, suicide bombers. The kidnapped boys are often forced to fight for Boko Haram as child soldiers. To make the boys loyal to Boko Haram, many boys have been forced to kill their own families, leaving the children with no homes to go back to.

In addition to its heinous crimes against children, Boko Haram has been raiding and capturing villages, then murdering their people. Since 2010, Boko Haram has killed thousands of civilians. The Nigerian army’s counter-insurgency campaign against Boko Haram has also resulted in the deaths of thousands of people.

In early September 2014, credible reports indicate that following heavy fighting with Nigerian forces, Boko Haram seized Bama, a city of 270 000 people located only 37 miles from the Borno state capital of Maiduguri, with over a million inhabitants. If Maidugari falls there will be a bloodbath. Boko Haram attacks and bombings continue even in Abuja.

The situation in Nigeria is critical. The ongoing campaign of terror by Boko Haram threatens to destabilize all of Nigeria and West and Central Africa. If Boko Haram is not stopped, its genocidal massacres will continue.

• Nigeria should be given full support in its battle to defeat Boko Haram. Increased military and human rights training should be given to Nigeria’s Army, along with immediate assistance with heavy weaponry, communications, and air support.

• Nigeria’s geographic location, vast oil reserves, and large population give the country a unique strategic importance in the region. Nigeria’s culture of rampant political corruption must end in order to unite its population against Boko Haram. Outflows of money from corrupt officials, along with transfers of funds to Boko Haram by Sudan, Qatar, and other sources should be embargoed by UNSC Resolution and seized from banks worldwide.

• Boko Haram’s leaders should be charged, captured, and tried in the International Criminal Court.