A
report released at the weekend in New York, United States by Watchlist
on Children and Armed Conflict (“Watchlist”), which strives to end
violations against children in armed conflicts and to guarantee their
rights, bears horrific tales from Boko Haram victims.
Boko Haram and the Civilian JTF are
opposite sides of the war in the Northeast. But, both of them, said
the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict in a report released in New
York, United States at the weekend, use children inappropriately to
feather their nest.
“Children as young as 13 are being recruited by both sides of the conflict and have nowhere to turn,” said the report.
The report, “Watchlist on Children
and Armed Conflict”, said the sect has subjected boys and girls to
forced recruitment, detention, attacks at school, abductions, rape, and
other forms of sexual violence.
The gravity and scale of these
violations warrant urgent action from the Federal Government, the United
Nations, and other child protection actors, the 64-page report said.
The report titled “Who Will Care for
Us?” details grave violations by some parties to the conflict since
December 2012 and provides recommendations on how to better protect
children. “While the abduction of over 200 girls in Chibok, Borno State,
has shed some light on how children are affected by the conflict in the
northeast, most abuses are still poorly documented, understood, and
addressed by key actors,” said Janine Morna, Researcher at Watchlist on
Children and Armed Conflict.
It added that 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, 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,” said Morna.
Watchlist also researched attacks on
schools in the region which, according to their media 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. “Continuous attacks on schools have devastated education in
the region, creating a climate of fear for students and teachers, and
leading to school closures from as early as April 2013. Relevant actors
must bolster school security through programmes like the Safe Schools
Initiative,” said Morna.
Watchlist documented abductions of
boys and girls by Boko Haram, including Christian girls who were forced
to convert to Islam and coerced into marrying members of the group,
along with other female abductees. Boko Haram abducted these 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
counseling and other health services.
“The humanitarian response to
violations against children has been slow, fragmented, and unable to
meet the fast-growing needs of those affected by the conflict,” said
Morna. Few international actors currently engage in the northeast,
leaving the government and local groups, with limited capacity, to
support survivors. “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 Morna.
The executive summary of the report
reads: “Conflict between the armed group Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna
Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), commonly known as Boko Haram, Nigerian
security forces, and civilian self-defense militias, is ravaging
Nigeria’s fragile northeast. Despite President Goodluck Jonathan’s
declaration of a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states,
the level of violence and the scale of grave violations against children
have worsened. The conflict in the north-east, along with
inter-communal violence, has displaced an estimated 650,000 people,
primarily women and children, and affected millions of others. The
parties to the conflict have subjected boys and girls to forced
recruitment, attacks on their schools, killing and maiming, abductions,
rape and sexual violence, and arbitrary detention. In April 2014, the
seriousness of these abuses came to the forefront when JAS abducted over
200 girls from Chibok in Borno State, sparking national and
international outcry.
“The humanitarian response has been
slow, fragmented, and unable to meet the fast-growing needs of those
affected by the conflict. Few international actors engage in the
northeast, leaving the government and local groups, with limited
capacity, to address violations and support survivors. The overall lack
of expertise on child protection in conflict-related emergencies has
left critical gaps in the response including, inadequate
protection-related data, a lack of standard operating procedures to
manage children encountered in conflict, and limited emergency
preparedness planning to address the continuous attacks on schools.”
The report also bears horrific tales
from child-victims of both Boko Haram and the Civilian JTF. One Friday
in late December 2012 in Gwoza, Borno State, a 16-year-old girl was
late for school. Soon after she arrived and greeted her friends,
suspected members of JAS attacked the school and abducted her and five
other girls before detonating a bomb on or near the campus.
She said: “I found myself in an
Imam’s house. I don’t really remember how I got there … The men said [to
us], ‘You are the real strong Christians. We want you to become
Muslims. We will give you men to marry and if you refuse, we will kill
you.’ The five other girls accepted. I said, ‘rather kill me.’”
Boko Haram decided to prepare her
and the other girls for marriage. Over a roughly one-month period, she
cooked meals for the members and rehearsed prayers and verses with the
girls. Just before her marriage, she seized an opportunity to escape
when a core group of suspected members of Boko Haram left the compound
for an attack. The other girls have not been seen by the community since
their abduction.
A young woman who was 21 at the time
of her abduction told Watchlist that she was abducted while riding
public transport from her polytechnic in Maiduguri to her home in Gwoza
on March 15, last year.
Her bus was traveling in convoy with
several other buses. The driver and passengers received information
that JAS was coming and decided to take an alternate route to Gwoza.
Unfortunately the drivers had been misled. The young woman explained:
“When we were going we saw people in military uniform. They stopped us.
But the insurgents were dressed like the military… They held many buses.
They checked if you were Christian, in which case they would kill you.
If you were Muslim you were allowed to pass. They identified…
(Christians/Muslims) by their mode of dress. After searching and
killing, and because it was getting dark, they assembled us to go to a
camp. Many people were taken captive.
The young woman reported seeing many abducted girls at the Boko Haram camp. She escaped 19 days later.
Another 19-year-old young woman told
Watchlist that she was abducted while travelling to her home in Gwoza
from Konduga Local Government College.
She was 18 years old at the time and
had just completed her final exams. On May 10, last year, she travelled
home with six female classmates below the ages of 18. En route, four
men holding guns stopped them. The men asked if there were Christians in
the car. One of the Muslim girls provided a hijab for each of the other
girls in the car who then pretended to be Muslim. The girls were held
captive for three days before JAS commanders arrived and released them.
Women and girls have also been abducted during and after attacks on
villages.
A young woman who was 19 at the time
of her abduction explained to Watchlist: “I ran to the hills. I was
short of food so I went to get corn… When people came, they came in a
number and I ran and hid. When they started beating my grandmother, I
surfaced from the hiding and I was caught. They started beating her and
said we should go. I was the only person taken. I was caught with a
gun.”
In June 2014, reports emerged of JAS invading and abducting scores of women and girls in villages in Borno State.
Sixty-three women and girls from one of these attacks successfully escaped in July 2014.
Soon after Christian women and girls
arrived in the camps, they were forced to convert and were told they
would be married to members of the group.
A young woman who was 19 at the time
of her abduction in Gwoza explained how she was forcibly converted:
“They were pulling the noose around my neck and dragging around and said
I should come back to Islam.”
She eventually relented to save her
life and the group set her dowry between N10,000 and N15,000
(approximately USD $60 to $90). The reports of forced conversion and
marriage received by Watchlist are consistent with other reports
appearing in the media.
Four of the former abductees
interviewed by Watchlist said they were raped during their abduction.
The rape appears at times targeted and at other times opportunistic. A
former abductee speaking to a local news organisation explained that JAS
leaders raped young virgins, while other members of the group took
turns raping married and elderly women.
In two cases cited by Watchlist,
members of Boko Haram took advantage of an opportunity to rape the
abductees when either the commanding officer was away or when the woman
or girl was alone and vulnerable.
A young woman who was 18 years old
at the time of the abduction said: “They gave us an axe to dig a hole to
ease ourselves. In the night I wanted to ease myself. I was trying to
ease myself and as I was in the process [he approached] and I started
screaming. He abused me.”
He slipped away. He tried to penetrate, but when people came, he didn’t enter.
According to the report, women and
girls sometimes escape from Boko Haram camps but often lack sufficient
support, counseling, and health services when they return home. Reports
indicate that these women and girls are rescued from the camps by the
military and Civilian JTF, or through family members who pay ransom and
negotiate their release.
All of the women and girls
interviewed by Watchlist returned to their families, but often had to
leave home for fear of their safety. In one case, the parents had to
leave because they were targeted by Boko Haram following their
daughter‘s escape.
Other reports suggest that families
sometimes send their children to other cities to avoid the stigma of
rape and pregnancy outside of marriage.
Few of the women and girls
interviewed by Watchlist officially reported the abduction because of
either mistrust of the authorities, fear of retaliation by Boko Haram,
or a feeling that reporting was futile because authorities have limited
capacity for individual assistance.
A mother of one of the abductees said: “The issue of reporting is a waste of time… The cases are so rampant.”
In addition, none of the women and
girls received support or counseling. Civilians, particularly in remote
areas, have limited access to health and other services.
Many of the interviewees were
traumatized by their experiences. One woman told Watchlist:”Immediately I
left this place (the camp), it made me insane,” while another said,
“When I remember, I normally cry.”
While the government and other
partners are providing some support to the families of the abducted
Chibok girls, as well as the girls who escaped, it is unclear to what
extent other survivors of abduction and sexual violence can access such
services.”
Culled from The Nation
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