83 children used as ‘human bombs’; 450,000 risk malnutrition—UNICEF

By Victoria Ojeme

ABUJA— The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said yesterday that no fewer than 83 children, including 55 girls, 27 boys and a baby strapped to the mother’s back, have been used as human bombs by Boko Haram in the North-East this year.

UNICEF’s Chief of Communication, Doune Porter, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, lamented that the number of children already used as bombs within the last seven months was four times higher than it was in the whole of last year.

The statement read: “The use of children in insurgency attacks has created suspicion and fear of children who have been released, rescued or managed to have escaped from Boko Haram insurgents, giving rise to rejection and difficulty in reintegrating into the community.

“UNICEF is extremely concerned about an appalling increase in the cruel and calculated use of children, especially girls, as ‘human bombs’ in the North-East.

“Children have been used repeatedly since January 1; 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. The use of children in this way is an atrocity. Children used as ‘human bombs’ are, above all, victims, not perpetrators.”

Porter disclosed further that due to the massive displacement and malnutrition crisis poised by insurgent attacks on the North Eastern part of the country, about 450,000 children were currently at risk of severe malnutrition.

The post 83 children used as ‘human bombs’; 450,000 risk malnutrition—UNICEF appeared first on Vanguard News.