At least 83 children, mostly girls, have been used as “human bombs” since January this year in conflict-torn north-east Nigeria – a fourfold increase on the whole of last year’s total, according to new data from UNICEF.
The UN child focused agency said that since 1st January, 55 girls – most under 15-years-old, 27 boys and a baby strapped to a girl have been deployed as “human bombs”.
The organisation said that the Islamist terror group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for some of these attacks.
“The use of children in this way is an atrocity,” UNICEF said in a statement. “Children used as ‘human bombs’ are, above all, victims, not perpetrators.”
UNICEF said that the use of children in such attacks has had the further impact of creating suspicion and fear around children who have been released, rescued or escaped from Boko Haram. “As a result, many children who have managed to get away from captivity face rejection when they try to reintegrate into their communities, compounding their suffering.”
Most of the attacks have occurred in Borno State where almost 1.5 million people have been displaced from their homes. The region is among a number of areas in Africa which is currently facing the spectre of famine.
