Nigeria 'needs same support as France' after Boko Haram attacks kill over 2000: archbishop

Burned ruins in Baga, Nigeria after an attack in April 2013 ... Hundreds of bodies were strewn in the bush in Nigeria on Friday after Boko Haram carried out its 'deadliest massacre' so far, according to Amnesty International. Photo: AP

• Boko Haram massacre thousands, says Amnesty International

Lagos: A Nigerian archbishop called Monday for the same international support to tackle Boko Haram as France has received since it was hit by Islamist attacks last week.
"I see the very positive response of the French government tackling this issue of religious violence after the killing of their citizens," said the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Jos in central Nigeria, Ignatius Kaigama.

Children stand near the scene of an explosion in a mobile phone market in Potiskum, Nigeria ... two females were used as human bombs to target a busy marketplace, killing four people. Photo: AP

"We need that spirit to be spread around, not just when it happens in Europe, (but) when it happens in Nigeria, in Niger, Cameroon and many poor countries, that we mobilise our international resources to confront the people who bring such sadness to many families," he told BBC World Service radio.

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Kaigama was speaking after another bloody weekend for Nigeria in which three female suicide bombers, including one thought to be as young as 10, killed at least 23 people in the restive northeast.
Four people were killed in suicide attacks by two female bombers on Sunday in the latest deadly violence in northeast Nigeria after the military appealed for support to help fight Boko Haram.

Struggling to face Boko Haram ... Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan waves to supporters during a rally in Lago on Thursday. Photo: AFP

The two women targeted a crowded market in Potiskum, Yobe State, a day after 19 people were killed in a similar attack in neighbouring Borno State, by a girl thought to be aged just 10.
Kaigama's comments echoed those from the head of the UN children's fund, Anthony Lake, who said on Sunday that harrowing reports from survivors of the a massive attack on Baga on January 3 and the use of a 10-year-old girl as a human bomb "should be searing the conscience of the world".
"These images of recent days and all they imply for the future of Nigeria should galvanise effective action. For this cannot go on," the UNICEF executive director said.
Potiskum - a repeated target for the militants - was also hit on Saturday, when a car exploded outside a police station, killing the driver and an officer.
Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan, who has been criticised for his failure to end the insurgency, issued a statement condemning the Paris attacks but rarely comments on attacks in his own country.
As Nigeria was attacked again on Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people around the world took to the streets in solidarity with millions in France to protest against Islamist attacks that left 17 people dead in Paris last week.
More than 13,000 people have died in the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria since 2009 and hundreds of thousands more have been made homeless.
In the Baga attack, Boko Haram fighters are thought to have carried out the worst massacre in the six-year insurgency, razing the town and at least 16 surrounding settlements on the shores of Lake Chad.
"The attack on the town by the bloodhounds and their activities since January 3rd, 2015, should convince well-meaning people all over the world that Boko Haram is the evil all must collaborate to end, rather than vilifying those working to check them," said Nigeria's defence spokesman Chris Olukolade.
Over 2000 people were killed by Bok Haram fighters during the massacre, according to reports.
Hundreds of bodies - too many to count - remain strewn in the bush in Nigeria from an Islamic extremist attack that Amnesty International suggested Friday is the "deadliest massacre" in the history of Boko Haram.
There have been local claims of mass slaughter in Baga but there is as yet no independent corroboration of the figures.
 http://www.smh.com.au/world/nigeria-needs-same-support-as-france-after-boko-haram-attacks-kill-over-2000-archbishop-20150112-12msu6.html