( CNN ) Boko Haram 's murderous tactics have descended to a new barbaric low . Last Saturday , a bomb strapped to a schoolgirl exploded in the center of Maiduguri in Borno state , killing at least 20 people . Then , on Sunday , two girls simultaneously blew themselves up in a market in Potiskum in Yobe state , killing three and injuring more than 40 . It is clear that girls as young as 10 ​are being lined up as suicide bombers to further Boko Haram 's cause . And these new bombings come as Boko Haram has also caused outrage around the world with its indiscriminate massacre of innocent men , women and children in the towns of Baga and Doron Baga . Indeed , new photographs obtained by Amnesty International show the devastation of more than 3 , ​700 homes , local shops , local churches and their local schools.​ Nothing , it seems , is sacrosanct.​ Daniel Eyre , Nigeria researcher for Amnesty International , said this was the `` largest and most destructive '' Boko Haram assault his organization has ever seen . The Nigerian government estimated 150 people were killed , but some widely reported private estimates put the figure as high as 2,000 . Days earlier , on January 4 , 40 boys and young men , ages 10 to 23 , were abducted from a village in the Nigerian state of Borno . This willful destruction of even the most innocent of lives destroys any illusion that Boko Haram will try to shield any civilian , however young or however frail , from its​ attacks and killings . As a result , this year is poised to be a year of infamy that could exceed the horrors of the last one . In November , for example , at least 120 people were killed in a bomb attack on a central mosque in Kano , the principal city of northern Nigeria . A few weeks earlier , the terror group kidnapped at least 97 people , including many children , during raids on villages in Borno state . When earlier in the year they invaded the northern village of Izghe , Boko Haram militants went door-to-door , killing any man , woman or child they came across . ​And perhaps most infamously , last year some 220 girls were abducted from Chibok by Boko Haram . Sadly , there has been no news on their whereabouts , meaning none of these families know whether their daughters are safe.​ No one knows if his or her daughter has been married off , raped , violated or even whether she is alive or dead . Every waking hour remains a nightmare for these families . Boko Haram 's ever more violent and ever more vicious abuse of children as weapons of war -- as victims , as slaves and as suicide bombers -- must be addressed , because the threat is only likely to grow . After all , the group 's leader , Abubakar Shekau​ , who has a $ 7 million ​bounty on his head​ , was seen last week in a video praising the jihadists who killed 17 people in the Paris attacks.​ The Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium has described Shekau as a `` religious intellectual , yet also a gangster and vigilante as well as a mad leader . '' With all this in mind , I am urging the international community to step up its pursuit , exposure and surveillance of Boko Haram and to do more to coordinate action against their cross-border incursions into Nigeria , Chad , Cameroon and other countries . Following the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok , a special initiative for children was launched -- the safe schools ​plan . It was in response to the news that children , fearful of further terrorist attacks , ​ had been staying away from school . The idea behind this is admirable -- the notion of safe schools and a universal call for every child to have the right to education , free of fear and intimidation . This plan is being put into place , and steps are being taken to fortify and guard schools , to improve security and to create a line of communication between schools and police and army . These new initiatives are backed by the Safe School Guidelines , passed by the United Nations to stop the use of schools as military targets and to ensure that they are havens free from exploitation by terrorist groups . Just as hospitals are regarded as protected under international law , so should schools . While better fortifications will of course not ultimately stop the carnage if a terrorist group is hellbent on an attack , the deterrent effect​ of enhanced security measures offers at least a first line of defense . And it also sends the important message to parents that everything possible is being done to make schools safer for their children . Over the last few weeks , $ 23 million has been raised for safe schools from the international community , and in the last few days the United States and Britain have announced further help for the initiative . But we are calling on all aid agencies to support this innovative plan , one that could , if applied round the world , help children worried about the threat to their schools , in countries from Pakistan to Lebanon . It is hard for many of us in the West to imagine what it is like to be scared even to travel to school , yet too many children around the world confront that fear every day . It is time for that to change .
Gordon says : Boko Haram 's tactics have hit a new barbaric low . Boko Nigeria 's targeting of women is becoming more vicious , he says .