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Fred Ezeh, Abuja
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), confirmed on Friday, that no fewer than 900 children were released by the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), which is a local militia group that helps the Nigerian security forces to combat insurgency in north-east, Nigeria.
The figure consists of 894 children, including 106 girls. The new release also brings the total number of children released from 2017 to over 1,700.
UNICEF, in a statement released in Abuja, confirmed that the freed children would benefit from reintegration programmes to help them return to civilian life, seize new opportunities for self-development, and contribute to bringing lasting peace in Nigeria, as productive citizens of their country.
UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, Mohammed Fall, said in the statement, that without the support, many of the children would struggle to fit into civilian life, as most of them were uneducated and had no vocational skills.
He said that UNICEF would continue to work closely with state authorities and partners to support the implementation of reintegration programmes for the freed children, as well as others affected by the ongoing conflict.
He further disclosed that more than 3,500 children were recruited and used by non-state-armed groups between 2013 and 2017 in the North East. He said that some were either abducted while others were maimed, raped or killed.
The UNICEF country representative maintained that any commitment for children that is matched with action is a step in the right direction for the protection of children’s rights and must be recognised and encouraged.
He was happy that since September 2017, when the CJTF signed an action plan committing to putting measures in place to end and prevent recruitment and use of children, 1,727 children and young people had been released, and there was no new recruitment of children by the CJTF.
He said that the participation of children in the conflict has had serious implications for their physical and emotional well-being, and “we cannot give up the fight for the children, as long as they are still affected,” he said.
