The United Nations says boys and girls in the north east
"continue to be brutalised as a result of Boko Haram’s insurgency in the
region and the ensuing conflict."
In the first report by the UN office of the special
representative for children and armed conflict on violations suffered by
children, the UN documented horrendous abuse of children between January 2013
and December 2016.
“With tactics including widespread recruitment and
use, abductions, sexual violence, attacks on schools and the increasing use of
children in so-called “suicide” attacks, Boko Haram has inflicted unspeakable
horror upon the children of Nigeria’s north-east and neighbouring countries,“
declared Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for
Children and Armed Conflict.
Book Haram attacks on communities and confrontations
with the military left some 3,900 children dead and 7,300 maimed. At
least 1,000 of them were killed and 2,100 injuries resulted from suicide
attacks. Up to 1,650 children were recruited and used by Book Haram, the
UN documented.
Boko Haram recruited and used thousands more since 2009,
some as young as four.
Many were abducted, and others joined the group
"due to financial incentives, peer pressure, familial ties and for
ideological reasons," the UN report said.
"In some instances, parents gave up their children to
obtain security guarantees or for economic gain." The children were
used in direct hostilities, to plant improvised explosive devices, to burn
schools or houses. Children, especially girls, have been used in suicide
attacks since 2014.
At least 90 have been used in suicide bombings in Nigeria,
Cameroon, Chad and Niger, the majority of whom were girls. The UN
estimates more than 1,500/schools have been destroyed since 2014, with at least
1,280 casualties among teachers and students. Up to 4,000 boys and girls
have been taken in mass abductions by Boko Haram from schools, including the
276 Chibok Girls kidnapped from their school in 2014.
The UN said it was able to verify "incidents of
sexual violence affecting 217 children during the reporting period" and
estimates thousands of women and girls may have been victims. "Many
were subjected to forced marriage and forced religious conversion," it
said.
"When they managed to escape or were rescued, these
girls often faced stigma and rejection from their families and communities,
especially when children were born as a result of rapes during their
captivity."
The UN commended Nigeria's response but said the response
rose over protection and extra judicial killings. It said 228 children,
some as young as nine, were recruited into the Civilian Joint Task Force
(CJTF), created in Borno State to assist the Nigerian Security Forces.
They were used in intelligence gathering, search
operations, night patrol, crowd control and post guarding. CJTF has
started dialogue with the UN after it was listed among groups recruiting and
using children in conflicts.
By Judd-Leonard Okafor
