Boko Haram, Civilian JTF recruiting children by force

Meanwhile, an international network of human rights and humanitarian organisations, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, has called on the Federal Government and the United Nations to investigate the recruitment and abuse of children in the North-East by Boko Haram   and the Civilian JTF.

According to the report by the group, its investigation revealed that the two groups subjected boys and girls to forced recruitment, detention, abductions, rape and other forms of sexual violence.

In the report which was released on Thursday, the WCAC noted that the gravity and scale of these violations “warrant urgent action from the Nigerian Government, The United Nations, and other child protection actors.”

The 64-page report, entitled ‘Who Will Care for Us?’ Grave Violations against Children in Northeastern Nigeria, detailed grave violations by some parties to the conflict since December 2012 and provided recommendations on how to better protect children.

One of Watchlist’s researchers, Janine Morna, said, “While the abduction of over 200 girls in Chibok, Borno State, has shed some light on how children are affected by the conflict in the North-East, most abuses are still poorly documented, understood, and addressed by key actors.

Children as young as 13 are being recruited by both sides of the conflict and have nowhere to turn.”

Though the study considered the
activities of all the actors in the ongoing conflict in the North-East, it noted that of particular concern was the forced recruitment of children for spying and assistance during armed attacks by Boko Haram and the Civilian JTF.

It also noted that Nigerian security forces who encountered child soldiers in Boko Haram’s ranks often detained them in unofficial military detention facilities, instead of protecting and rehabilitating them in accordance with international standards.

“The government of Nigeria should denounce the recruitment of children by all armed groups, take immediate steps to release child soldiers in their custody, and develop procedures to transfer child soldiers to civilian actors,” Morna said.