UNICEF has expressed extreme concern about the appalling increase in the cruel and calculated use of children, especially girls, as ‘human bombs’ in northeast Nigeria. In a report released on Tuesday, UNICEF said children have been used repeatedly in this way over the last few years and so far this year, the number of children used is already four times higher than it was for all of the last years.
According to the report, since 1 January 2017, 83 children have been used as ‘human bombs’; 55 were girls, most often under 15 years old; 27 were boys, and one was a baby strapped to a girl. The sex of the baby used in the explosion was impossible to determine.
UNICEF was further concerned that “the use of children in such attacks has had a further impact of creating suspicion and fear of children who have been released, rescued or escaped from Boko Haram. As a result, many children who have managed to get away from captivity face rejection when they try to reintegrate into their communities, compounding their suffering.
“All of this is taking place in the context of a massive displacement and malnutrition crisis – a combination that is also deadly for children. There are 1.7 million people displaced by the insurgency in the northeast, 85 per cent of them in Borno State, where most of these attacks take place,” the organization noted
