The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) says 4, 204 children associated with armed conflict in the North-east have been handed over to governments of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe after the routine re-radicalisation and rehabilitation for onward reintegration processes.
UNICEF Child Protection Manager, Maiduguri Field Office, Mr. Samuel Sesay, disclosed this at a two-day task force meeting on hand over protocol implementation plan held in Maiduguri, Wednesday.
According to him, the handing over protocol is an agreement signed in 2022 between the federal government and United Nations to ensure children associated with armed conflict are removed from military facilities or custody.
Sesay added that the protocol is a step by step procedure on how children who either escaped from the custody of the armed group or were released by the insurgents leaders or surrendered voluntarily do not stay long in the military facilities or custody anywhere across the country before they reunite with their families and relations.
“The Protocol is about children who are affected by the armed conflict, wherein when they are released, how are they released, how long they should take with the military and who to hand them over to and what to do with them,” Sesay said.
Borno state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zuwaira Gambo, represented by the acting Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Alhaji Mohamed Hamza, lauded the commitment of UNICEF and other partners for putting in place the Protocol while soliciting for proper and successful implementation of the handing over protocol framework.
Members of the taskforce include officials from Federal Ministries of Women Affairs, Defence, Humanitarian Affairs, Office of the National Security Adviser, the military and United Nations.