17,000 People Displaced by Boko Haram's Violence in Nigeria
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A total of 17,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have been registered as a result of the escalation of the attacks in northeastern Nigeria's state of Adamawa, a rescue agency spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Boko Haram has attacked targets almost every day for weeks and last week seized control of Mubi, the home town of Nigeria's defense chief Air Marshal.
Sani Datti, an information officer with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) told reporters in Yola, the state capital that more than 6,000 children were among the IDPs.
Datti said the agency and other partners were managing six major camps.
"We are still waiting for the arrival of some IDPs who ran into Cameroon during the recent attack on Mubi town and other towns," he added.
He appealed to IDPs, especially those living with either their relatives or host communities, to come out and register at nearest camp, saying that government had provided enough relief materials to carter for the needs of the IDPs.
In mid last month, the West African nation's government announced that they had secured a ceasefire deal with Boko Haram and agreement to release 219 schoolgirls abducted from their Borno school in mid-April.
However a Boko Haram leader denied last week there was a ceasefire and the kidnapped schoolgirls have been "married off" to the group's fighters, Xinhua reported.
Since then, there have been reports of Boko Haram attacks and abductions, giving credence to speculation that the government is perhaps negotiation with an insignificant faction of the terrorist group.
