The United Nations Secretary general Antonio Guterres has condemned Saturday attacks carried out by jihadists militant group Boko Haram that killed 31 people.
The militant group used young girls as suicide bombers in the town of Damboa in Borno state, targeting people returning from celebrating the Idd-ul-Fitr holiday.
“The Secretary-General stresses that attacks targeting civilians violate international humanitarian law, and he calls for those responsible for this attack to be swiftly brought to justice,” a statement released by the UN Secretary General’s Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric read in part.
In the statement, the Secretary-General expressed his condolences to the affected families and to the Government and people of Nigeria and wished those injured a swift recovery.
Further, he reiterated the United Nations’ solidarity with the countries fighting against terrorism and violent extremism in the Lake Chad Basin and the Greater Sahel region.
Boko Haram has wageda decade-long war in Nigeria, seeking to topple the government and instill an extreme sharia-based system of governance.
The war has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions others, causing a humanitarian crisis in the northeastern region of the country.
Boko Haram has regularly deployed suicide bombers — many of them young girls — in mosques, markets and camps housing people displaced by insurgency.
On May 1 at least 86 people were killed in twin suicide blasts targeting a mosque and a nearby market in the town of Mubi in neighbouring Adamawa state.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari came into power in 2015 vowing to stamp out Boko Haram, but the jihadists continue to stage frequent attacks, targeting both civilians and security forces.
