The United Nations (UN) [official website] on Friday said that it is becoming increasingly alarmed by “catastrophic” levels of suffering in Nigeria, as more rights violations are being exposed while the anti-Boko Haram military campaign advances [UN News Centre report]. Adrian Edwards, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) [official website] stated [press briefing],

While many areas are still beyond reach, in Borno and Yobe States the picture of suffering is shocking. There are numerous reports of human rights violations, including deaths, sexual violence, disappearances, forced recruitment, forced religious conversions and attacks on civilian sites. Some 800,000 additional internally displaced people have been identified as needing help.

The military activity has caused the displacement issues to spread across the Lake Chad basin borders to areas of Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Women, children and elderly make up large portions of the displaced people, and many of those in need of help are malnourished and exhausted as well. The UNHCR is ramping up efforts to deliver humanitarian aid, focusing first on highly vulnerable areas. However, many areas needing assistance can only be accessed with military escorts.

The militant Islamic group Boko Haram [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], whose name means “Western education is a sin,” has been fighting to overthrow the Nigerian government in the interest of creating an Islamist state. Earlier this month UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon [official profile] applauded [JURIST report] the European Union for donating 50 million euro (approximately $55,435,000 USD) to the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF). The MNJTF was created by Lake Chad basin countries in an effort to combat Boko Haram. Last month, the Secretary-General condemned [JURIST report] yet another attack by Boko Haram in Nigeria that left 30 dead and approximately 80 injured. In April the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, reported [JURIST report] that Boko Haram militants in Nigeria have been murdering women and girls previously taken captive by the group. The group has been increasing the intensity and frequency of its attacks [JURIST report] ever since it lost most of the territory it overtook earlier this year to the Nigerian army. Most of these attacks have centered around markets, bus stations, places of worship and hit-and-run attacks on villages.