ABUJA, Nigeria -- An unknown number of civilians, including many children, have been abducted and are being used as human shields by Boko Haram extremists, a top Nigerian official confirmed Wednesday.
Several hundred people were taken captive by the Islamic militants as they retreated earlier this month from Damasak in northeastern Nigeria, said Mike Omeri, the Nigerian spokesman for the fight against Boko Haram. He said he could not specify how many were taken captive, but reports say as many as 500 people were seized.
When troops from Chad and Niger advanced toward Damasak, Boko Haram began taking captives, said Omeri, speaking in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.
"Boko Haram ... rushed to primary schools, they took children and adults that they are using as shields to protect themselves from the menacing advance of troops," said Omeri. "They are being used as shields by Boko Haram."
Damasak, near the border with Niger, was recaptured from Boko Haram on March 16. The soldiers who recaptured Damasak found the town largely deserted. Damasak had been held for months by Boko Haram, who used the trading town as an administrative center.
The troops from Chad and Niger who now hold Damasak also have discovered evidence of a mass grave, Chad's ambassador to the U.N., Mahamat Zene Cherif, said Wednesday.
Almost a year ago some 276 girls were kidnapped from a government boarding school in Chibok. Dozens escaped in the first couple of days, but 219 remain missing.
Nigeria's battle against the Islamic extremists is a major issue for Saturday's elections, which the group has vowed to violently disrupt. The 6-year-old Islamic insurgency has killed thousands, including an estimated 10,000 last year.
International assistance is needed for the thousands of Nigerian refugees who have fled the violence, the head of the United Nations refugee agency said Wednesday.
Violence in Nigeria has forced more than 192,000 people to flee to the neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Troops from the three countries are now helping Nigeria fight the militants and win back Nigerian towns.
The refugee agency will funnel more resources to Cameroon, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said while visiting Maroua, the capital of Cameroon's Far North region. But he stressed that additional assistance is needed.
The U.N. agency said the Nigerian crisis is one of the most underfunded in the world.
In February, the agency asked for $71 million to assist displaced people in Nigeria and neighboring countries, and already that figure appears to be too low, it said this week. Thus far, the agency has received only $6.8 million in donations, he said.
At Cameroon's Minawao refugee camp, residents aren't getting enough to eat or drink, and there aren't enough toilets or medical supplies, Isaac Luka, a representative of the refugees, said Wednesday.
Guterres said the agency has received only 3 percent of the funding necessary to run Minawao, which is home to 33,000 people.
"Cameroon is today not only a very important protection space for refugees, but it is in the first line of defense of the international community," he said.
"Every country in the world needs to understand that Cameroon is not only protecting itself, Cameroon is protecting all of us," he said.
Information for this article was contributed by Cara Anna of The Associated Press.
A Section on 03/26/2015