Boko Haram's war against children is a crime against humanity

According to the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), the terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria is committing crimes against humanity with their targeted violence against children and young people. "About 70 percent of the 877 civilians who were abducted by the Islamist sect since January 2014 were minors. Also, most of the suicide bombers who committed the increasing attacks in the name of the terrorist group since summer 2014 were 15 to 17-year-old girls," said Ulrich Delius, the STP's Africa-consultant in Göttingen on Sunday. On Saturday, a ten-year-old girl had committed a suicide-attack on a market in the city of Maiduguri (Borno State), killing 19 people. 18 people were injured. Around Christmas, a thirteen-year-old had reported how she managed to escape before having to commit a similar attack.

Indirectly, it is also especially children and adolescents who suffer from the violence by Boko Haram. Thus, the 194,660 pupils of the 800 schools in north-eastern Nigeria could not visit any classes for months because the school buildings were destroyed – and most of the teaching staff has fled because of the safety-situation. "The long-term consequences of these attacks on education are catastrophic," warned Delius. "A whole generation will not have much chance to reach better living conditions by improved education. For the already impoverished and neglected regions in the north-east of the country, this war against the children is a disaster."

The STP also recalls the fate of the 219 schoolgirls from the village Chibok who were abducted by Boko Haram in April 2014. On January 14, the girls will have been in the hands of the Islamist kidnappers for nine months. "The Chibok-girls must not be forgotten. It is a scandal that Nigeria's government and security forces have failed to resolve the case and to set them free," said Delius.

In the last three months, there has been a massive increase of violence in north-eastern Nigeria. Thus, 676 people died in raids and armed clashes in November 2014 – followed by 608 victims in December. The number of victims will most probably increase again in January 2015, because the destruction of the city Baga on January 4 resulted in 400 to 2000 victims. Another 220 people got killed this weekend, about 200 of them in the course of the fighting between the army and Boko Haram on the border between the states of Adamawa and Borno.

Ulrich Delius, head of STP's Africa department, is available for further questions: +49 551 49906 27 or afrika@gfbv.de.

Header Photo: UNHCR / K. Mahoney