The attacks by alleged Boko Haram militants and the killing of forty civilians in the Dumba hamlet, Kukawa Local Government Area, Borno State, Nigeria, have been harshly denounced by the UN.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Mohamed Fall, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, condemned the attack that was directed against local farmers and fishermen.
“The recent mass murder of farmers and fishermen in Kukawa appalled me. After the January 12 attack, a number of persons are still unaccounted for,” he stated.
He asserts that the attack’s perpetrators must be held accountable in accordance with both domestic and international human rights legislation.
Numerous farmers in Borno State’s Kukawa Local Government Area were killed in a violent attack on Sunday by suspected terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP).
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator wished the injured a speedy recovery and expressed sympathy to the relatives of the deceased.
It is imperative to identify and hold accountable the armed actors responsible for these attacks. The serious risks that citizens in the states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe still confront are starkly brought home by this attack, he stated.
The number of attacks on civilians in conflict-affected countries in 2024 also worried him.
“Hundreds of internally displaced people (IDPs) were allegedly kidnapped by Non-State Armed Groups (NSAGs) in Ngala LGA in February 2024 when they left the protection of the trenches to gather firewood. In June, suicide bombings in Gwoza LGA claimed the lives of numerous civilians and injured others.
An unknown number of internally displaced people were killed and women and girls were kidnapped when suspected rebels assaulted farmers in the Firgi hamlet, also in Gwoza LGA, in July. He said that an attack on Mafa in Tarmuwa LGA, Yobe State, in September claimed the lives of over 100 men and boys.
Fall also brought attention to more violent episodes that occurred in Borno’s Dikwa, Logomane, Ngala, and Pulka districts.
Fall urged increased security measures to safeguard civilians while reaffirming the UN’s commitment to working with the government to support the impacted populations.