UN says child suicide bombers used by Boko Haram are not aware of their cargoes

UNITED Nations (UN) security experts have revealed that many of the young girls used as suicide bombers by Boko Haram are used unknowingly as they appear not to be aware of the content of the deadly cargoes they are sent to deliver.

 

Of late, Boko Haram has resorted to using young girls, some as young as 11 to deliver bombs to crowded targets, strapped by bombs which are detonated remotely. Given the success of the Nigerian military in dislodging Boko Haram from many of its strongholds, the sect has resorted to the increasing use of unsuspecting children, who are known as mules to carry its bombs to targets.

 

Leila Zerrougui, the UN secretary-general’s special representative on children and armed conflict, suggested yesterday that the children used in this way were in many cases not aware of what they were about to do. Boko Haram jihadists have in recent months increasingly used young women and girls as suicide bombers in northeast Nigeria, northern Cameroun, Chad and Niger Republic, leaving death and destruction in their wake.

 

Ms Zerrougui said: "Many of them don’t know that they will be blown up with remote devices. Many of the girls are as young as 11 or 12 and I personally doubt that the children know.”

 

She added that security forces had informed the UN that the bombs are often set off remotely, indicating that means it is not the person herself who did it. Ms Zerrougui lamented that the use of children as human bombs is one of the worst manifestations of an increasingly blatant disregard for the safety and security of minors in conflict situations around the world.

 

Ms Zerrougui added: "Elsewhere, thousands of youngsters are used as soldiers and children as young as four or five are being used as human shields on battlefields by armed groups like the Islamic State or the anti-Balaka in the Central African Republic. This is the worst form where children are really put in danger and their bodies are really used as a weapon.”

 

According to Ms Zerrougui, since she was appointed to her position in 2012, each year becomes more dire for children caught up in conflicts. She added that 2015 was really a difficult year for children all over the world where conflicts are ongoing as the world is currently dealing with six major conflicts, including in Syria and Yemen, compared to one or two normally.

 

"If you count protracted conflicts, a jaw-dropping 20 are currently impacting the lives of children around the world. We have thousands of children killed, maimed, schools attacked and children by the thousands recruited in many places, so children are not only affected, they are specifically targeted,” Ms Zerrougui added.