The Borno State Government has said measures have been put in place to safeguard and protect all returning Internally Displaced Persons, especially children, from being recruited as fighters by Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents in the state.
According to the state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Zuwaira Gambo, the government has made deliberate efforts at ensuring that all former child fighters and other vulnerable children in the resettled communities are properly checked against any form of insecurity in their new communities considering the fact that majority of them were unwillingly recruited into arms handling.
She made this statement on Monday in Maiduguri during the celebration of the UNICEF International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers.
The commissioner stated, “Children become part of an armed force or group for various reasons. In our case in the North-East, most were abducted, threatened, coerced, or manipulated by armed actors. Some associated themselves for survival or to protect their communities.
“No matter their involvement, the recruitment and use of children by armed forces is a grave violation of child rights and international humanitarian law.”
Meanwhile, UNICEF has said over 8,000 Nigerian boys and girls have been recruited as child soldiers since 2009.
The UNICEF Chief Field Officer in Borno, Phuong Nguyen, spoke on Monday in a statement to mark the International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers.
Nguyen said it was “unacceptable and unconscionable” for children to be recruited for conflict-related reasons by armed groups.
She called on the Nigerian government to ensure that children formerly recruited as soldiers were supported for proper integration into society.
The statement read in part, “We call for an immediate end to the recruitment and use of innocent children as soldiers or any other conflict-related role. It is unacceptable and unconscionable that girls and boys continue to serve on the frontlines of a conflict they did not start.
“For 13 years, armed conflict in North-East Nigeria has claimed thousands of lives and disrupted livelihoods and access to essential services for children and their families. Nearly one million homes and 5,000 classrooms have been razed in the protracted armed conflict. Since 2009, more than 8,000 girls and boys have been recruited and used as child soldiers in different roles by armed groups.
“UNICEF called on the Nigerian authorities to sign the Handover Protocol for children encountered in the course of armed conflict in Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin region, which would end the detention of children formerly associated with armed groups.
“The Handover Protocol will ensure that children encountered during military and security operations are transferred from military custody to civilian child protection actors to support their reintegration into society through the provision of family tracing and reunification services and medical, educational and psychosocial recovery services. Support will also include life skills support, skills training and links to decent work.”
“Ratified by the government of Nigeria in 2012, the optional protocol places obligations on non-state armed groups, not to, under any circumstances, recruit or use in hostilities persons under the age of 18.
“We must do more to ensure that Nigeria’s children do not suffer the worst impacts of conflict.
“We owe girls and boys a chance to leave the horrors of conflict behind. Every day of delay in the custody of armed groups is a tragedy with grave implications for the children, families and Nigerian society as a whole.”
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