April 14, 2015 – A report published by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that at least 800,000 children have been forced to flee their homes in North-eastern Nigeria as a result of violence orchestrated by the radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
According to the report, a number of children crossing over the border to Chad, Niger and Cameroon, as a result of the violence has doubled in less than a year.
UNICEF’s Regional Director, Mr. Manuel Fontaine said the abduction of more than 200 girls in Chibok is only one of endless tragedies being replicated on an epic scale across Nigeria and the region.
“Scores of girls and boys have gone missing in Nigeria – abducted, recruited by armed groups, attacked, used as weapons, or forced to flee violence. They have the right to get their childhoods back.
“Young women and girls are being subjected to forced marriage, forced labour and rape, while students and teachers are being deliberately targeted. More than 300 schools were damaged or destroyed and at least 196 teachers and 314 schoolchildren killed by the end of 2014,” he added.
The conflict, the report said is exerting a heavy toll on children in Nigeria and across the region in an increasing number of ways and that some of them are killed, maimed and displaced.
“Children are being used within the ranks of Boko Haram – as combatants, cooks, porters and look-outs”, the report added.