MEPs condemn Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria, deploring lack of int'l attention

The European Parliament (EP) strongly condemned on Wednesday the atrocities committed by Boko Haram in Nigeria.

In a debate with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, MEPs also deplored the lack of international attention to the massacre committed in the city of Baga and called on the international community to help Nigeria to eradicate the causes of terrorism there.

They demanded an international inquiry into the Baga massacre, which reportedly left 2,000 people dead and urged the EU to step up its assistance to Nigeria and its neighbors in fighting terrorism and its causes.

Davor Ivo Stier, representing the centre-right EPP group in the Parliament, said: "It is time to say 'Je suis Baga aussi'," after the slogan coined to show solidarity for the victims of last week's attack on the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

"It is perfectly natural that we have a stronger reaction when something is happening in our vicinity, on our continent," he said in the debate. "But our values are universal. The Baga attack is also an attack on European values, just as the one in Paris. We must show active solidarity towards the victims of Islamic fundamentalism in Nigeria as well."

Mogherini said the numbers of victims of the on-going terror campaign by Boko Haram were "frightening". Some 13,000 have been killed since 2009, with more than half of this number killed during 2014. Around 1.5 million people are internally displaced within Nigeria, with a further 155,000 refugees in neighboring Niger, 37,000 in Cameroon, and 11,000 in Chad.

The EU is committed to aiding the struggle against Boko Haram, she commented. As well as helping with the short term humanitarian response, the EU is already providing 10 million euros in counter-terrorism assistance to Nigerian security agencies.

"In the medium term," she added, "it is also crucial that the population has prospects for development and jobs."

"We need to be realistic about this situation," Stier also said. "One of the reasons why Boko Haram is advancing so fast is that the Nigerian government does not have the capacity to cope due to weak government institutions and corruption of endemic proportions. Nigeria is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of natural resources, (yet) two-thirds of its population live on under a dollar a day. It is a global scandal, and this is only one of the examples that prove that a large proportion of EU development aid is being consumed by corruption in some states."

A resolution on the recent atrocities in Northern Nigeria will be voted at the European Parliament's February plenary session. Enditem