Nigeria's security forces fail to fight Boko Haram effectively – Almost 2,000 dead since May 2013

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) accuses Nigeria's police and armed forces of failing to fight the Islamist sect Boko Haram effectively. "Instead of protecting the civilian population from the attacks, more and more civilians get killed every week," said STP-consultant Ulrich Delius in Göttingen on Monday. "Another 112 people got killed last weekend. Since the beginning of the year 2014, the sect's violence has caused an average of 82 victims per week among the Christians and Muslims in Northern Nigeria. 661 died in bomb attacks and raids committed by the extremists since January 1, 2014 – and a total of 1,962 Christians and Muslims died in the Boko Haram conflict since a state of emergency was imposed on the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa on May 14, 2013."

Nigeria's federal government justifies the state of emergency and the drastic limitations of civil rights by trying to protect the civilian population against the sect's repeated attacks and to establish are more effective anti-terrorism strategy. "But Boko Haram is still killing people, both Christians and Muslims – and has become more present in northern Nigeria than ever before. It has become more difficult for the sect to operate in the cities of northern Nigeria, but the rural areas and many of the roads are still not safe," said Delius. "The Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria feel unsafe because of the terror by Boko Haram and the counter-measures by the security forces – for the Islamists are not only attacking Christians but also the Muslim population."

The civilian population is getting more and more furious because of incidents such as last Friday night, when civilians were killed by the armed forces in an anti-terror measure in Dugolon. In the village, 20 people died in an air raid by the Nigerian Air Force and 25 more suffered severe burns. A fighter pilot had mistaken the village for a Boko Haram training camp.

Last Saturday, there were 52 more victims when two car bombs exploded in quick succession in the city of Maiduguri. Most of the victims were football fans who had gathered around TV sets to watch a match. Boko Haram fighters also killed 39 people in the village Mainok and destroyed the entire settlement.