Boko Haram and Civilian JTF recruit minors in Northeast Nigeria

Boko Haram sect as well as Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) reportedly subject 13 years old children to forced recruitment and detention in northeast Nigeria, a report released Thursday by a rights group, the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, states.

The group, which protects the rights of children during armed conflict, said the warring factions in the crisis have attacked schools, carried out abductions, rape, and other forms of sexual violence.

The gravity and scale of the violations warrant urgent action from the Nigerian Government, United Nations, and other child protection actors, the report noted.

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

According to Janine Morna, researcher at Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, of particular concern was the forced recruitment of children for spying and assistance during armed attacks by Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, commonly known as Boko Haram, and the Civilian JTF, a self-defense militia formed in mid-2013 in Borno State.

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

Moreover, Nigerian security forces who encounter child soldiers in Boko Haram’s ranks often detain these children in unofficial military detention facilities known for the mistreatment of detainees, according to the report, 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,” Ms. Morna said.

“We were sleeping in the hostel. We heard the gun shots. I woke up from sleeping. Ten boys were in the room. I went out of the room. I had gotten out of the room and I was shot at in the leg. I was hit with two bullets on my left foot. I pretended like I died. When the people were not at the place I woke up. The other students that didn’t die said if we are able to run, let us run,” the unnamed boy, interviewed last April, said.

A youth from Borno State told Watchlist that they were forced to join the Civilian JTF.

“When I returned, they [members of the Civilian JTF] suspected me of being part of Boko Haram. Three of us were tied up. Someone came as a witness and said I was not part of Boko Haram. Then I was released. After they released me I went home. I went to the market and bought a machete and stick to be part of the [Civilian] JTF… If you refuse [to join], you are killed,” the young man said during an interview in April.

“The Nigerian Government, United Nations, and non-governmental agencies must take urgent steps to recruit experts with experience operating in a conflict situation and scale up programming to support some of Nigeria’s most vulnerable and marginalized children,” said Ms. Morna.
Watchlist also researched attacks on schools in the region which, according to its survey, has resulted in the death, injury, or abduction of at least 414 students, teachers, or other civilians on school premises between January 2012 and July 2014.

Boko Haram abducted girls and young women from schools and markets, and during raids on villages in areas across Borno State since at least December 2012. Some members of the group raped girls and young women in the camps. None of the girls and women who escaped, and were interviewed by Watchlist, had access to counselling and other health services.




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