MEPs condemn Boko Haram massacres in Nigeria

Met dank overgenomen van Europees Parlement (EP) i, gepubliceerd op woensdag 14 januari 2015, 19:29.

Nigerian security men inspect the scene of a bomb blast at the Jos Terminus Market,Nigeria -©BELGAIMAGE/AFP

MEPs strongly condemned the atrocities committed by Boko Haram in Nigeria and voiced their solidarity with the families of victims and the Nigerian people, in a debate with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini i on Wednesday. They also deplored the lack of international attention to the massacre committed in the city of Baga and called on the international community to help Nigeria to eradicate the causes of terrorism there.

MEPs called for an international inquiry into the massacre last week, which reportedly left 2,000 dead. They urged the EU to step up its assistance to Nigeria and its neighbours in fighting terrorism and its deep causes.

Special attention should be paid to strengthening Nigeria's democratic institutions and ensuring peaceful and genuinely democratic presidential and parliamentary elections later this year, they added.

A resolution on the recent atrocities in Northern Nigeria will be voted at the European Parliament’s February plenary session.

REF. : 20150114IPR08001