United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, (UNODC), says at least 8,000 children were recruited by Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP) since the terrorist groups began onslaughts in Nigeria.

In a statement by Sylvester Tunde Atere, National Project Officer, Outreach and Communications of UNODC, the children were used as combatants and non-combatants missions.

They also raped and forced girls to marry as well as committing other grave violations.

He said: “Recruitment and exploitation have a long-lasting impact on children’s lives. Today, rehabilitating and reintegrating these children poses significant challenges, not only in view of their number, but also due to the intense and lasting traumatic effects.

“In June, UNODC organised a consultative workshop to address the situation of children recruited and exploited by terrorist groups under the EU-Nigeria-UNODC-CTED Partnership Project.

“UNODC gathered all relevant stakeholders in Abuja, including representatives from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Federal Ministry of Justice, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development as well as a representative of the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

“Others are Federal High Court, National Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, the Presidential Committee on the Northeast Initiative, prosecutors, social workers, and civil society organisations, as well as UNICEF, OHCHR, IOM. The Chief Judges of Borno and Yobe State High Courts were also in attendance.”

In 2014, the abduction of 276 girls from their school in Chibok attracted international attention, unmasking the brutality and disregard these groups hold against children.

A 2017 report by UNICEF found that the use of children to carry out suicide attacks had become a defining feature of the conflict.

Source; https://maniagist.com/2019/07/08/boko-haram-iswap-recruit-8000-children-in-nigeria-unodc/

Chai!!!

It will very easy for boko haram to recruit those children, after all they are thousands of almajiris roaming the streets of Yola alone not to mention Maiduguri

Continue mr Buhari...this people have started relocating to Lagos. Yesterday, btw redemption camp and ibafo,i saw a trailer loaded with hausa/fulani children, running about a hundred plus. Thats part of the ruga settlement. Have you noticed the high number of them too in ogun state. They started their ruga plan already. Do just give them any space.

There is a single man in Jimeta-Yola Adamawa State that has close to 200 known children. can you imagine that?

The birth and literacy rates in the north move in opposite directions. A whole lot of youths there are stack illiterates, they can't understand even pidgin English.



They are thousands of illiterate almajiris littered all over the place. Majority of those children are alien to parental care, guidance and love. Why won't they constitute societal menace? why won't it be easy for boko haram to manipulate and recruit them?


The truth is that the north is the problem of this country, the backwardness in that region could be compared to what was obtainable in the 17th and 18th centuries. The northern region is responsible for this country's backwardness. THIS IS A FACT!!