ABUJA, NIGERIA (AP) – The extremist insurgency in northeast Nigeria is a “very, very dangerous (and) very threatening” crisis that needs more than USD1 billion in aid in 2022 to assist those hit by the decade-long conflict, United Nations (UN) Humanitarian Chief Martin Griffiths said.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Griffiths urged the world not to forget the continuing devastation caused by Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province, together blamed for killing tens of thousands of residents and displacing millions. “This is a very different kind of operation and very difficult also to deter… a grave and clear and present danger, obviously, to the people and a priority for the government,” Griffiths said in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown extremist rebels, launched an insurgency in the country’s northeast in 2009, to fight against western education and to establish Syariah law in Nigeria. Their rebellion has spread over the years to the neighbouring West African countries of Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
