Over 13,000 people have been killed as a result of the five-year Boko Haram insurgency in northern Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday. He made the disclosure while addressing the United Nations (UN) Security Council High-Level Meeting on the threat of terrorism to global peace and security in New York.

According to Jonathan, “Nigeria knows too well the destructive effects of terrorist activities. Over the past five years, we have been, and are still confronting threats posed by Boko Haram to peace and stability predominantly in the north-eastern part of our country.

“The costs are high: Over 13,000 people have been killed, whole communities razed and hundreds of persons kidnapped, the most prominent being our innocent daughters from Chibok Secondary School, in North East Nigeria.

“As daunting as the challenge may be, we have faced it with unrelenting determination, mobilising all the resources at our disposal, to ensure that the scourge of terrorism is rooted out of our nation. In addition to our counter-terrorism efforts, we have evolved initiatives to alleviate the plight of the population in the affected communities.”

Jonathan alleged that mercenaries have been fighting on behalf of Boko Haram and urged the international community to act immediately to stop the new phenomenon of terrorists and foreign fighters attacking and trying to hold parts of sovereign nations.

•Photo shows President Jonathan.