Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The top echelon of the European Union (EU), has bemoaned the consistent attacks in the northern part of the country by insurgents.
The EU said the attacks posed serious threat to the nation’s security and the wider region.
The EU’s position followed series of attacks in the north, particularly the recent killing of over a dozen civilians, including a four-year old girl in the northeast.
The EU however said it stands by Nigeria and its people in the current period of increased violence and instability.
The High Representative/Vice-President of EU, Josep Borrell and EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, in a joint statement on the latest attacks in the northeast, said attacks, abductions and killings of civilians by armed groups in northern Nigeria have killed over 160 people, including 130 civilians since 28 May.
The EU also said such heinous acts of terrorism and violence were intolerable, even as it said the attacks posed a serious threat to Nigeria’s security and to that of the wider region, including in the increasingly restive Northwest of the country.
“The ongoing conflict, growing food insecurity and COVID-19 pandemic significantly increase humanitarian needs in northeast Nigeria. International humanitarian law must be safeguarded and respected by all parties to the conflict, in Nigeria and elsewhere. Civilian and humanitarian personnel should not be targeted, and all parties should facilitate unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need.
“The EU stands by Nigeria and its people in this period of increased violence and instability,” Borrell and Lenarčič said.