‘Harness Paris spirit against Boko Haram’

A Catholic archbishop in Northern Nigeria has accused the West of ignoring the threat and continuing atrocities of the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram, writes Ellen Teague.

 Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos, president of the Nigerian Bishops’ Conference, said the world must show more determin­ation to halt the group’s advance, and “show the same spirit and resolve as that expressed after the terrrorist attacks in France”.

He spoke last weekend after the massacre of up to 2,000 people by the group in Borno and Yobe States. The West was urged to act before Boko Haram destabilises the whole region. Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan issued a statement condemning the Paris attacks but rarely comments on attacks in his own country. He has promised to improve the effectiveness of the Nigerian army after the country’s presidential elections next month.

The heavy death toll in Baga,  on the border with Chad, included children and the elderly who could not outrun rocket-propelled grenades. Boko Haram also used a child of around 10 years to carry out a suicide bombing in the city of Maiduguri, killing at least 19.