UN says Boko Haram militants causing tremendous suffering

A top UN official says the rise in militancy in northeastern Nigeria has caused a tremendous amount of suffering, misery and hardship in the region. UN Assistant Secretary General Robert Piper said the problems range from food shortages to family units torn apart by relentless attacks by the militants, namely the Boko Haram group. A recent survey of displaced children around Maiduguri, the capital of the northeastern Borno State, showed over 35 percent of the children were acutely malnourished, said the official, describing the figure as "very, very high."

The impact of Boko Haram fighting and violence has caused the humanitarian situation in the area to deteriorate rapidly, particularly over the past year. Reports say millions of farmers have practically lost access to their farms, causing a surging food crisis in the country. At the same time, the dire food situation has led to a huge rise in acute malnutrition, in some cases causing irreparable damage to children’s health and even death.

Boko Haram militants are the terrorist group in control of some parts of northeastern Nigeria. The Takfiri group has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks and abductions (most notably of school girls) since the beginning of its criminal activities in 2009. The extremist group’s reign of terror has left over 13,000 people dead and at least 1.5 million displaced. The group has also declared allegiance to the ISIL Takfiri militants which is currently wreaking havoc in areas under terrorists control in Iraq and Syria.

Nigerian troops with the help of military forces from neighboring Chad, Cameroon and Niger, have started a joint operation targeting the militant group. They say they have made major progress against the terrorists in past weeks and have recaptured many towns held by the terrorists, bringing closer the end of the militants’ deadly campaign in the region.