popular newspaper
The Nigerian military has detained thousands of children in harsh and degrading conditions for suspected involvement with the armed Islamist group Boko Haram,
The children who spoke to the group said they were picked up by authorities and detained in the state’s main military detention center, Giwa barracks.
A
Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu said the Armed Forces of Nigeria do arrest children who are coerced into helping Boko Haram, either by setting off explosives or spying for the terrorist group.
But, he said, the armed forces treat the children “as victims of war and not as suspects.” He said that “apprehended children are kept in secured places, where they are adequately fed, profiled and de-radicalized before their release.”
He added that children are not subject to arbitrary arrests nor are they tortured in any facility.
Alleged breaches
Jo Becker, the director of children’s rights advocacy at Human Rights Watch, said Nigerian authorities are breaching international standards. None of the children have appeared in court.
“International standards are clear that when children are involved in armed conflict, they are entitled to rehabilitation, reintegration and help getting back into their community and into civilian life,” Becker said. “They don’t belong in military detention. Nigeria has programs that are ready to deal with these children.”
In its ongoing war against the Nigerian government, Boko Haram has terrorized the northeast for 10 years in an insurgency that seeks to establish an Islamic State.
More than 37,000 people have been killed in the insurgency, including at least 15,000 civilians.
The U.N. estimates that Boko Haram has recruited at least 8,000 children into its ranks, often through abduction.