How Children Were Unlawfully Maltreated And Detained In North-Eastern Nigerian – Amnesty

As the world celebrates the younger generation (Children) today, it is important to look at the fate and protection of every Nigerian child especially those in the turbulent region of the country.

Naija News understands that these were some of the fears expressed by Amnesty International (AI) in a report to commemorate Children’s Day 2020.

According to AI in the 91-page report which addressed the toll of the Boko Haram war on children, and also examined how the military’s detention and torture have compounded the suffering of the young ones.

According to the report which was released on its twitter handle titled ‘We dried our tears’, not less than 119 children suffered serious crimes by Boko Haram between November 2019 and April 2020. AI also alleged the maltreatment by the military, charged with the responsibility of protecting the children from Borno and Adamawa states, had compounded their suffering.

It also reveals how international donors have bankrolled a flawed program that claims to reintegrate former alleged fighters, but which overwhelmingly amounts to unlawful detention of children and adults.

Amnesty Acting Director of Crisis Response, Joanne Mariner, said that:

“The past decade of bitter conflict between Nigeria’s military and Boko Haram has been an assault on childhood itself in Northeast Nigeria. The Nigerian authorities risk creating a lost generation unless they urgently address how the war has targeted and traumatized thousands of children,” said Joanne Mariner, Acting Director of Crisis Response at Amnesty International.

“Boko Haram has repeatedly attacked schools and abducted large numbers of children as soldiers or ‘wives,’ among other atrocities.

“The Nigerian military’s treatment of those who escape such brutality has also been appalling. From mass, unlawful detention in inhumane conditions, to meting out beatings and torture and allowing sexual abuse by adult inmates – it defies belief that children anywhere would be so grievously harmed by the very authorities charged with their protection.”

Here is Amnesty International (AI) series of  tweets about the 91-page report.

Nigeria must urgently address its failure to protect and provide education to an entire generation of children in the Northeast, a region devastated by years of Boko Haram atrocities and gross violations by the military. #ChildrensDay2020 #Nigeria

— Amnesty International Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) May 27, 2020

—Boko Haram has repeatedly attacked schools and abducted large numbers of children as soldiers or ‘wives,’ among other atrocities.
—The Nigerian military’s treatment of those who escape such brutality has also been appalling: #FreeChildrenInDetentionNow https://t.co/gyVy0sdSYy pic.twitter.com/MY35D6C1il

— Amnesty International Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) May 27, 2020

Nigeria: Help children ravaged by war or risk a ‘lost generation’ in the Northeast

—#BokoHaram abducted thousands of children as soldiers or ’wives’
—Military subjects children to torture in prolonged, unlawful detention
—EU & other donors fund a flawed ‘rehabilitation’ program

— Amnesty International Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) May 27, 2020