UK Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson visits Maiduguri to extend support to Boko Haram victims

The UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, and international development secretary Priti Patel have embarked on a journey to the heart of the Boko Haram uprising in Nigeria to express solidarity with the fight to end the activities of the jihadists, the Guardian reports.

Arriving in Nigeria, the two ministers proceeded to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, where the full wrath of the Islamists menace is overwhelming.

According to reliable stats, Boko Haram flurries of attack since their public emergence 2010 has recorded over 20,000 deaths, rendered 1.7 million people homeless and left 8.5 million in dire need of urgent support, in many cases due to famine.

Boko Haram, whose mission is to create an Islamic state in the Lake Chad region, which encompasses some parts of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, gained notoriety when it abducted more than 200 girls from the town of Chibok, Borno, on April 2014.

The UK in a show of support and concern has so far trained 28,000 Nigerian soldiers with over 40 UK military personnel deployed to Nigeria on a long term basis.

In addition, Patel announced an extended five-year package of help, worth another £200m, to prevent 1.5 million people from languishing in famine and to help a 100,000 boys and girls to acquire formal education. The package also includes the restoration of key infrastructure and services in the north-east of the country.

After meeting survivors of Boko Haram violence, including bomb and gunshot victims, and seeing the displacement of people created by the conflict, Johnson said, “Boko Haram has generated suffering, instability, and poverty on a huge scale, with profound knock-on effects far from Nigeria’s borders.”

Writing on Twitter, Johnson added, “In north east #Nigeria w/ @patel4witham seeing the big impact of  military training & humanitarian aid on the front line w/vile Boko Haram”.

Yet under criticism at home for his performance as foreign secretary, Johnson expressed his satisfaction over the help the UK was rendering, saying, “This is about helping a Commonwealth partner in its time of need as well as addressing the root causes of international challenges such as migration.”

Patel in his own words said, “It is catastrophic that at least 20,000 people have been murdered by Boko Haram’s terrorist regime, and over 5 million people have been left hungry and many homeless. Babies’ bodies are shutting down and mothers who have lost everything are fighting to keep their children alive.”

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