Nigerian Military Raids United Nations Camp for Unclear Reason
"I am extremely concerned that these actions could be detrimental to the critical work
that is being carried out every day to support the most vulnerable in the region, and I call upon the government of Nigeria to provide clarification." On Friday afternoon, the Nigerian military released a statement saying that the raid had no specific target.
Nigeria has said repeatedly that it has defeated Boko Haram, a group of insurgents
that has carried out kidnappings, bombings and murders throughout the northeast portion of Nigeria, as well as in areas across the borders of Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
In January, the military pursuing Boko Haram mistakenly bombed a refugee camp in the village
of Rann, killing at least 90 people, according to a report from Doctors Without Borders.
Soldiers have been raiding various areas inside and outside Maiduguri to search for bomb-making materials
and insurgents and, acting on a tip, raided the area of the United Nations camp and 30 houses nearby, according to the military statement.
Edward Kallon said that The humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s northeast is one of the most severe in the world today,
About 5 a.m. on Friday, soldiers entered a tent camp housing United Nations workers in Maiduguri, the birthplace of the Islamist militancy,
and searched it for about three hours, a statement from the United Nations said.