Reacting to the United Nations condemnation of the deaths of over 150 people in eight villages in Adamawa and Borno States by gunmen on Sunday, the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans, Executive Director, Pastor Laolu Akande said in a statement, "Our brethren in northern Nigeria, and other innocent Nigerians numbering more than 4000 and their families, have always known and experienced the evil first hand."
Reacting to the United Nations condemnation of the deaths of over 150 people in eight villages in Adamawa and Borno States by gunmen on Sunday, the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans, Executive Director, Pastor Laolu Akande said in a statement, "Our brethren in northern Nigeria, and other innocent Nigerians numbering more than 4000 and their families, have always known and experienced the evil first hand."
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Pastor Akande said there is no formal organization to compensate the victims but with a relief fund launched in 2012, they've contributed $50,000 to victims through CANAN.
Akande said, "It was because of our realization that these terrorists are so evil that explained why we fought hard in our advocacy to have the US government label Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organization, so that the full force of the American government can be exerted against the evil. CANAN will continue to press the US government to do all it can to help rid Nigeria of this evil."
Speaking Monday in Geneva for the UN, Ravina Shamdasani, an official of the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR), said the UN condemned in the strongest terms Sunday’s attack.
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She said while OHCHR understood that the Government "was in a very difficult position as the armed groups were extremely strong they stressed that it was the Government’s responsibility to protect the citizens who lived in that territory."
A statement, which did not mention the name Boko Haram, said, "OHCHR was appalled by the extreme and indiscriminate violence which Nigeria had witnessed in recent times, including the attacks on two villages on 11 February, which left 39 people dead, 65 injured and reportedly 2,000 homes destroyed."
It added "OHCHR urged the Government to do more to provide security and protection to civilians, especially in areas prone to attacks and where a state of emergency had been proclaimed. "
The UN also called upon the Nigerian authorities to launch a prompt and thorough investigation, and make sure that perpetrators of the human rights violations and killings were prosecuted and held responsible.
On Sunday, Borno State Governor said the Boko Haram insurgents were more armed and motivated than the Nigerian military.
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