The European Parliament adopted by 564 votes to 28 with 35 abstentions a resolution on Nigeria – recent attacks by Boko Haram.

The resolution was tabled by the EPP, S&D, ECR, ALDE, GUE/NGL, and Greens/ALE groups. Parliament referred to the kidnapping of 276 female students by Boko Haram from the Government Secondary School in Chibok on 15 April 2014, and the kidnappings that had taken place since then, as well as the fact that the violence instigated by this Islamist jihadi extremist organisation had caused many thousands of deaths in the past ten years.

Members expressed great concern about Boko Haram’s active targeting of women and children as part of its bloody guerrilla campaign and condemned the flagrant violation of fundamental rights constituted by the fact that Boko Haram was prohibiting young girls and boys from having access to education. They called on the Nigerian Government and authorities to work together to ensure that the girls were brought home safely, to improve transparency about the rescue efforts and to provide adequate information and medical and psychological support to families of abducted girls in order to end the climate of suspicion. They noted alarming reports, including from the EEAS and government sources, about indiscriminate violence as part of the government response.

In this context, Parliament urged the EEAS, the Council and the Commission to:

·        work with the UN and other international partners to cut off funding for, and restrict the movements of, Boko Haram and, in particular, its leadership;

·        continue to cooperate with Nigeria, including on the case of the Chibok schoolgirls, bilaterally and through regional and UN structures, in relief efforts, training of security forces and intelligence sharing;

·        swiftly to conclude the 2014-2020 country strategy for Nigeria and to include aid and assistance aimed at removing the root causes of the rise of Boko Haram.

The Nigerian government is also called upon to fight the root causes of the Boko Haram insurgency, including underdevelopment, widespread corruption, embezzlement of oil money, radicalisation and a lack of prospects, and furthermore, to bridge the economic divide between the north and south of the country, including by providing better education and health-care services in the north, and to ensure a fair distribution of benefits from oil wealth through the state budget to ensure proper regional development.

Lastly, Parliament took the view that the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism on grave violations of children’s rights in situations of armed conflict should be activated in Nigeria and that UNICEF should increase its capacity in this area, in line with its mandate.