Nigeria’s plight at the hands of Boko Haram militants has created one of the worst and most neglected humanitarian crises in the world, a leading campaigner has said.
Speaking at a conference in Washington DC, Elijah Brown, executive vice president of the 21st Century Wilberforce Institute, described the ISIS-affiliated Boko Haram as “the most lethal terrorist organisation in the world in terms of numbers killed”.
“What is unfolding in northern and central Nigeria is one of the worst, most neglected humanitarian crises in the world,” he said, continuing, “Millions affected, thousands slaughtered, insecurity rampant, children ravaged by malnutrition, schools closed, houses of worship destroyed, and entire communities burned to the ground, and yet it is neglected.”
He was accompanied at the conference by the US’s religious freedom ambassador David Saperstein, Becky Gadzama, co-founder of the Education Must Continue Initiative, and a Nigerian lady who went simply as “Mary”.
The mother of a missing Chibok schoolgirl, Mary spoke out of the kidnapping of her daughter and over 200 other girls by Boko Haram in April 14, 2014. Most of the girls are still missing.