The report entitled “Who Will Care for Us? Grave Violations Against Children in Northeastern Nigeria” by another international human rights organization alleges Christian children abducted by Boko Haram are converted to Islam.
According to the information released yesterday by the group Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, boys and girls kidnapped by insurgents are forced to become Muslims and females are coerced into marrying the sect members.
It is not the first time such statements appear regarding the abduction victims. Soon after more than 200 school girls were kidnapped in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram it was claimed that the girls were forced into marriages. In another development, some feared that they were raped and used as sex slaves.
In one of the videos released by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau weeks after the incident, the terrorist showed Chibok girls reciting Quran and claimed they had been “liberated” by converting to Islam.
Now Watchlist confirms some information speaking about the increasing rate of crime against children, Leadership reports. The organization also accused the Federal Government and other humanitarian bodies of inability to provide adequate help to the kidnap victims.
“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.”
It was also mentioned in the report that Boko Haram sect and the Civilian Joint Task Force had subjected children to forced recruitment, detention, attacks at school, rape and other crimes in Nigeria’s North-East.
The 64-page document contains recommendations on the ways of children’s protection.
“The gravity and scale of these violations warrant urgent action from the Nigerian government, United Nations and other child protection actors.”
Meanwhile almost 5 months since the abduction of Chibok girls, the issue remains unresolved, with the majority of them still held in captivity.
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