Armed groups release 894 children, among them 106 girls in Maiduguri – UNICEF

GENEVA, Switzerland – United Nations Children Education Fund(UNCEF) has hailed the decision of Civilian Joint Task Force(CJTF) to release a total of 894 children within its rank and file, among them 106 girls in Maiduguri

The children were being used by the CJTF to assist the security forces in the fight against insurgents in the North-east. They were released on Friday as part of measures to end recruitment and use of children in the fight against insurgents.

“Today, 894 children, including 106 girls, were released from the ranks of an armed group called (the) Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in Maiduguri, north-east Nigeria as part of this group’s commitment to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children,” said Spokesperson Christophe Boulierac.

“They have been used by armed groups in combatant and non-combatant roles and witnessed death, killing and violence,” UNICEF said in a statement, noting that the CJTF was formed in 2013 to protect communities and help the Nigerian military fight against separatists.

In total, 1,727 children and young people have now been released by the CJTF.

Between 2013 and 2017, the UN agency believes that more than 3,500 children have been recruited and used by non-state armed groups in north-east Nigeria. Others have been “abducted, maimed, raped and killed”, UNICEF has said, adding that the children and young people released today will benefit from reintegration programmes to help them return to civilian life and seize new opportunities for their own development.

“Without this support, many of the children released from armed groups struggle to fit into civilian life as most are not educated and have no vocational skills,,” Mr. Boulierac told journalists in Geneva.