The federal government and UNICEF have signed an agreement on the protection and welfare of children encountered by Nigerian security agencies during military operations.
The handover protocol which took place recently is the first civil human rights instrument to specifically cover the transfer, custody, and care of children in North-east Nigeria and minors from other nationalities who escaped or were rescued from armed groups.
A statement issued Friday by the UNICEF communication officer, Borno state, Ms. Folashade Adebayo, and made available to newsmen in Maiduguri said under the new protocol, children either recruited and used as child soldiers or detained on the suspicion of affiliation to armed groups shall immediately or within a maximum of seven days be transferred to safe shelters where they can access basic services, including medical, food and psychosocial support.
It added that children played no part in the creation of the conflict that has ravaged North-east Nigeria, decimated livelihoods and disrupted the provision of the most basic services while more than 6,400 grave violations of children’s rights in the region have been verified since the start of the conflict.
And 5.4 million children currently need urgent humanitarian assistance. Food insecurity, acute malnutrition, recruitment and use of children by armed groups, abductions as well as killings of children are some of the devastating badges of the protracted.
