Hundreds of Nigerian civilians — including children — have been abducted by Boko Haram extremists.
As many as 500 people were taken captive by the Islamic terrorist group as it retreated from Damasak in northeastern Nigeria earlier this month, said Mike Omeri, the Nigerian spokesman for the fight against Boko Haram, to the Associated Press Wednesday.
When troops from Chad and Niger advanced toward Boko Haram’s setup in Damasak, the group began taking captives and is now using them as shields, Omeri said. Damasak, which is on the border of Niger and close to Chad, was recaptured on March 16.
The kidnappings, however, were just now confirmed.
“Boko Haram…rushed to primary schools, they took children and adults that they are using as shields to protect themselves from the menacing advance of troops,” Omeri said. “They are being used as shields by Boko Haram.”
Damasak had been held for months by the terrorist group, which used the trading town as an administrative center.
Troops from Chad and Niger, who now hold Damasak, found evidence of a mass grave, Chad’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mahamat Zene Cherif, confirmed Wednesday.
The group gained global attention after it abducted some 276 girls from a boarding school in Chibok, Nigeria. Roughly 220 remain missing.
Nigeria’s battle against Boko Haram, a six-year-old insurgency that has killed thousands — mostly in northeastern Nigeria — is set to be the major issue for the country’s elections to be held Saturday.
According to U.S. High Commission for Refugees Antonio Guterres, the Nigerian crisis is one of the most underfunded crisis in the world.
