ICC Note: The United Nations stated that the main source of funding for Boko Haram remains kidnapping for ransom. One reason this has proven so lucrative for the terrorist organization is that the Nigerian government has in the past paid large ransoms. Most recently, claims have been made that they made a large ransom for the 110 Dapchi girls, which they have since denied.
08/21/2018 Nigeria (World Watch Monitor) – Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen have between them claimed at least 26,000 lives in northeast Nigeria since 2009, says the UN, as Nigerian newspaper This Day reports.
According to a UN representative in Nigeria, civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, through widespread displacement, abuse and violations of international laws.
Edward Kallon was speaking in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state – the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency – on Friday, World Humanitarian Day.
He said men, women and children face grave humanitarian rights violations, including sexual and gender-based violence, on a daily basis.
The nine-year insurgency has forced thousands of families to flee their villages and communities in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
Aid and medical workers have been among those killed. In March, three aid workers were killed and three others abducted in Rann, Borno state; another aid worker was killed in Ngala, also in Borno, in May; and a member of the National Emergency Management Agency was killed in Damasak, Borno, just last week, lamented the UN official.
Meanwhile a recent UN report submitted to the Security Council Committee has revealed that kidnapping for ransom remains one of the main sources of funding for Boko Haram activities.
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