The NGO's latest report says the Nigerian military continues to detain thousands of children in "inhuman conditions." Allegedly, the minors collaborated with Boko Haram.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EPA/Nigerian Army
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The report called "'They Didn't Know if I Was Alive or Dead": Military Detention of Children for Suspected Boko Haram Involvement in Northeast Nigeria," says many children are "held without charge for months or years in overcrowded military barracks."
In 2016, amid mounting pressure owing to reports of abuses against children in Nigerian detention center, the United Nations negotiated the release of more than a thousand children detained for allegedly collaborating with the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram, including some as young as five years old.
Fewer arrests
At the time, the UN's children's fund UNICEF said it feared that hundreds of minors were still detained by the Nigerian military in its barracks in Giwa, in Maiduguri, the main military detention facility in Borno state. According to the UN, 418 children were detained in 2018, against 1,900 the year before.
Boko Haram uses children as suicide bombersImage: picture-alliancce/AP Photo/S. Maikatanga
Now Human Rights Watch (HRW) says there are still many children in Giwa — 32 minors interviewed there by HRW in June described beatings, overwhelming heat and overcrowded cells, according to the report. "Children are being detained in horrific conditions for years, with little or no evidence of involvement with Boko Haram, and without even being taken to court," HRW's children's rights advocacy director, Jo Becker, said.
No end to suffering after release
Many of the children said they were arrested after fleeing Boko Haram attacks on their village or while seeking refuge at camps for internally displaced people. One said he was arrested and detained for more than two years for allegedly selling yams to Boko Haram members. Several of the detained girls had been abducted by Boko Haram or forced to marry Boko Haram fighters. Detainees also accuse Nigerian soldiers of sexually abusing girls.
The children do not go to school, being allowed only to pray, watch television and profit from lessons given by some of their older peers. Their troubles are not over when they are finally released, even without a charge, as has happened to around 2,200 minors since 2013. Many are rejected by their communities and suffer social stigma for their alleged involvement with Boko Haram.
Freed Boko Haram hostages: 'The pain is still there'
Almost 300 women and children held captive by Boko Haram have been freed by the Nigerian army. They are staying temporarily in a refugee camp. But their suffering is far from over.
Image: DW/Jan-Philipp Scholz
Traumatic experiences
"You notice one thing straightaway - the children here hardly ever laugh," says a helper at Malkohi camp, close to the Nigerian city of Yola. The camp now accommodates almost 300 people who were liberated in early May from Boko Haram captivity. About half are under 18 years old. Every third child is malnourished.
Image: DW/Jan-Philipp Scholz
Starting life in a refugee camp
Lami Musa is the mother of probably the camp’s youngest resident. One day before she was rescued by soldiers, she gave birth to a baby girl. During the army’s liberation operation, several women were killed by the terrorists. "I just held my daughter tight and protected her with my body," the young mother said.
Image: DW/Jan-Philipp Scholz
A mother's loss
Halima Hawu was less fortunate. One of her three children was run over and killed as they were being abducted by the terrorists. During the army operation, she was shot in the leg by a Nigerian soldier, as Boko Haram members used the women as human shields. "The pain is still there but perhaps the worst is now behind us," she hopes.
Image: DW/Jan-Philipp Scholz
Not enough food for the children
Three-year-old Babaka spent six months in capitivity. Food was provided irregularly. There was just some maize for the children every now and then, former captives say. When the soldiers came, the little boy was close to death from starvation. Babaka is still extremely weak. He has not yet received adequate medical care in the camp.
Image: DW/Jan-Philipp Scholz
A narrow escape
Babaka’s mother was taken to the nearby hospital in Yola, together with about 20 other seriously injured people. Someone who had been in front of them as they fled trod on a landmine. The massive explosion badly injured the woman and killed a baby she was carrying.
Image: DW/Jan-Philipp Scholz
Need for aid
Apart from some donated clothing, little international aid has reached the women and children at Malkohi camp. Much is in short supply, especially medical personnel. There is no trace of the doctor who was supposed to be on duty. The provisional clinic is being run by just two nurses and a midwife.
Image: DW/Jan-Philipp Scholz
Relying on voluntary aid
"I don’t understand why our national emergency agency doesn’t do more," says social worker Turai Kadir (seen here). She acted on her own initiative and found a doctor to take care of the children worst affected by malnutrition. That is really the task of NEMA, the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency, but it is totally overwhelmed.
Image: DW/Jan-Philipp Scholz
'Unbelievable strength'
Regina Musa recently returned from the US to teach psychology at Yola University. Now she is helping provide psychological care for the women and children in the camp. "The women have demonstrated unbelievable strength," Musa said. During the traumatic period of captivity many cared for children who were not their own. "We have to help them understand how important that was."
