Nigeria needs help in fighting Boko Haram – reproach to Europe is an attempt to distract from own failures

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) calls for more international efforts to fight the terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria and Cameroon. "The international community must wake up and realize that Boko Haram is highly dangerous, instead of trusting the assertions of the Nigerian politicians. There must be a security meeting to improve the joint measures to fight Boko Haram – as soon as possible," said Ulrich Delius, the STP's Africa consultant, in Göttingen on Tuesday. "Europe should be alarmed by the fact that the most populous and economically strong country in Africa – which provided UN peacekeeping forces all over the world for years – has lost 70,000 hectares of land to the caliphate. The Islamist fighters are equipped with heavy weapons, explosives, SUVs, motorcycles and tanks. Also, and they managed to get hold of large sums of money by robbing dozens of banks. The area under their control is now larger than the Benelux countries – and they are destabilizing Northern Nigeria and Cameroon too." The human rights advocate also emphasized that, since Boko Haram is responsible for crimes against humanity and since Nigeria has failed to fight the terrorist movement, the international community must now protect the civilian population. "Both the Christians and the Muslims in Nigeria are suffering from the Islamist terror. The religious motives are merely an excuse for their criminal activities, a pretextual reason to try and take power in the embattled state. A peacekeeping intervention is out of question – but Nigeria and Cameroon are in desperate need for cooperation and technical assistance. "The affected states – which are feuding over border issues – must finally work together to stop the threat. In Cameroon, 185 people died in clashes with Boko Haram since January 1. The government of Cameroon subsequently announced to deploy 20,000 new soldiers. The STP strongly rejected the increasing criticism by Nigerian politicians who accuse the US and Europe of insufficient support. "Nigeria's politicians are responsible for the lack of help. They played down the dramatic situation for months, as an attempt to win the presidential elections in February 2015." The US had offered training support, but the offer was turned down. Other cooperations were terminated because there is no confidence in the army: soldiers had passed on secret information to Boko Haram. "If Nigeria's democracy is to be strengthened, there must be initiatives for good governance and more human rights. A state that is not credible will not be able to stop Boko Haram."

Ulrich Delius, head of STP's Africa department, is available for further questions: +49 551 49906 27 or afrika@gfbv.de.

Header Photo: UNHCR / D. Mbaoirem