Boko Haram recruits more than 8,000 children to fight in Nigeria’s North-East

The Boko Haram insurgents have recruited no fewer than 8,000 children in fighting the war against Nigeria since the start of the Boko Haram crisis in the North-East in 2009.

The revelation was made on Wednesday in Abuja, when the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) jointly with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) presented the key findings of UNODC Fifth Global Report on Trafficking in Persons to stakeholders from the federal government, civil society organisations and international partners.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said reports have shown that some boys and girls were increasingly being used as human shields and to detonate bombs.

The body called for a step-up of effort to protect child victims and witnesses in terrorism-related proceedings in Nigeria.

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“According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) report from the Handbook of Children Recruited and exploited by Terrorist and Violent Extremist Groups since 2009, about 8,000 children have been recruited and used by Boko Haram in Nigeria. Some boys have been forced to attack their own families to demonstrate loyalty to Boko Haram, while girls have been forced to marry, clean, cook and carry equipment and weapons.”

“The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) received consistent reports that some boys and girls were increasingly being used as human shields and to detonate bombs, citing May 2015 as an example of a 12-year-old girl who was used to detonate a bomb at a bus station in Damaturu, Yobe State, killing seven people.” 

It said similar incidents were reported in Cameroon and the Niger Republic.

According to the statement the recently released propaganda video by ISWAP, showing children being taught military skills to train them for fighting and the latest attack on the Chibok community in Borno State by ISWAP are a reminder of the importance to step up the efforts aimed to protect children from terrorist groups.

The statement revealed that UNODC, working closely with national counterparts have recently started to provide support aimed at preventing and responding to violence against children by terrorist and violent extremist groups, under a new European funded project called “STRIVE Juvenile.”