The Civilian Joint Taskforce (CJTF) has been delisted from the group of organizations that recruit and use children in armed conflicts in the North-East for removing almost two thousand children from their ranks and reconnecting them with their families.
According to UNICEF, this is a step advance in the protection of children in the sub-region, which has been destroyed by the Boko Haram insurgency for the past twelve years, as stated in a statement signed by Phuong Nguyen, the chief of Maiduguri field office on Monday.
The delisting is the consequence of sustained deradicalization of minors and increased enrollment of these children in schools since the action plan was passed into law in 2017, according to a report recently released by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres credited the delisting to a significant reduction in the number of children recruited into the ranks of the CJTF, as well as the armed group’s commitment to implementing an Action Plan it signed with the UN Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) in 2017 to stop the recruitment and use of children," according to the statement.
The CJTF was featured in the annexes of the Secretary-Annual General’s Report for Children and Armed Conflict in 2016 when it was at the height of its operations. However, since signing the 2017 Action Plan, the organization has freed over 2,000 children, with many of them enrolled in school and receiving psychosocial support.
“Children have borne the brunt of the protracted conflict in North-East Nigeria with at least 3,500 young children recruited by parties to the conflict as combatants between 2013 and 2020. Girls and boys have been used as suicide bombers, spies, labourers, cooks, messengers and wives. Girls recruited by armed groups often suffer gender-based violence, including rape.
“Children used as soldiers are at great risk of death or disability while undergoing armed training and initiation rites, as well as during combat. They are forced to witness or participate in tortures and killings, triggering lifelong physical and mental health challenges,” the statement said.
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