The United Nations Children Education Funds (UNICEF) has argued that children being used as ‘suicide bombers’ by members of Boko Haram around the Lake Chad area are ‘victims’ and not perpetrators.
This is even as it announced that the number of such children in suicide attacks’ has surged to 27 in the first quarter of 2017, compared to nine over the same period last year,UNICEF said in a new report released today.
A statement from UNICEF quoted Regional Director for West and Central Africa of the body, Marie-Pierre Poirier, as saying: “these children are victims, not perpetrators. Forcing or deceiving them into committing such horrific acts is reprehensible.”
The statement said that for no fault of theirs, girls, boys and even infants have been viewed with increasing fear at markets and checkpoints, where they are thought to carry explosives.
The statement said that in interviews, many children who have been associated with Boko Haram report that they keep their experience secret because they fear the stigmatization and even violent reprisals from their community.
“Some are compelled to bear their horrors in silence as they remove themselves from other groups for fear they might be ousted and stigmatized.
On the increase in the children used as suicide bombers, UNICEF said: “in the first three months of this year, the number of children used in bomb attacks is nearly the same as the whole of last year – this is the worst possible use of children in conflict.”
It said that the increase reflects an alarming tactic by the insurgents, adding that so far, 117 children have been used to carry out bomb attacks in public places across Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon since 2014: four in 2014, 56 in 2015, 30 in 2016 and 27 only in the first three months of 2017. Girls have been used in the vast majority of these attacks.
UNICEF then called on parties to the conflict to commit to the following actions to protect children in the region.
- End grave violations against children by Boko Haram including the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict as so-called ‘suicide bombers’.
- Move children from a military to civilian environment as quickly as possible. Children who have been taken into custody solely for their alleged or actual association to armed groups should be immediately handed-over to civilian authorities for reintegration and support. Handover protocols should be in place in each of the four countries for children encountered during military operations.
- Provide care and protection for separated and unaccompanied children. All children affected by the crisis need psychosocial support and safe spaces to recover. [myad]
