Boko Haram.

2015

Release international is again urging Nigeria to protect its vulnerable Christian minority in the north, following the latest massacre by Boko Haram. Release warns the threat from Islamist insurgents amounts to religious cleansing and threatens to destabilise the region.

Female suicide bombers, said to be as young as ten, are the latest weapon to be used by terrorists in the wave of attacks in northern Nigeria.

Estimates vary from 150 killed to up to 2,000 dead since January 3, in what has been described as the bloodiest escalation of violence by the Islamist terror group Boko Haram.

Militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles gunned down civilians and burned people in their homes in the village of Baga, near the border with Chad.

The latest attacks in Baga, Maiduguri and elsewhere, have forced 30,000 people to flee, according to reports. An estimated 1.5m Nigerians have been displaced since the fighting began.

The death toll from the insurgency has now reached 10,000, according to the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.

Many attacks have been against churches, schools and government buildings – especially in areas such as Maiduguri where Christians are in a sizeable minority. It’s been estimated that Boko Haram have destroyed 1,000 churches since the start of their insurgency in 2009.

‘We must open our eyes to the religious cleansing aspect of the violence that is taking place in Nigeria,’ warns Paul Robinson, the Chief Executive of Release International, which provides aid to persecuted Christians around the world.

‘Release contacts say many Christians have now been driven from the north as Boko Haram strives to create its brutal version of an Islamic state. While all Nigerians are at risk from violent jihadists, Christians are being singled out as targets.’

Media reports say the Nigerian government has been silent about the latest attacks, and some sources say the Nigerian army has been running away from the terrorists.

‘Release is urging Nigeria to act decisively to safeguard the lives of its dwindling Christian minority in the north,’ adds Paul Robinson. ‘And Release is urging the West to wake up to the threat of destabilisation in wider Africa posed by Islamist militants.’