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1.2m Nigerians trapped in Boko Haram territories – UN

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BORNO: Boko Haram hijacks bus, kidnap 20 passengers

The United Nations said on Friday that at least 1.2 million civilians are trapped in two local government areas controlled by Boko Haram.

The civilians, according to the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, are also denied humanitarian aid and services.

He said aid workers have become major targets of the insurgents in the last 18 months.

Kallon stated these while delivering a keynote address at the ongoing International Civil-Security summit in Maiduguri, Borno State, adding that the decade-old Boko Haram crisis has killed over 30,000 people in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe States.

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He, however, called for an urgent improvement in the civil-military relationship in the ongoing counter-insurgency operation.

“This crisis deserves our sustained attention and renewed commitment,” Kallon said, adding that stakeholders in the Northeast must build trust amongst themselves “in order to improve Civil-Security Cooperation.”

He noted that as Boko Haram insurgency clocks its 10th year, about seven million people are still in need of humanitarian assistance.

“Over the past 10 years, over 35,000 people have lost their lives in this crisis. About 14,000 were civilians, but many others were members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria,” he said.

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