The UN has reported an ‘alarming spike’ in female suicide bombers in Northern Nigeria, a known hot spot for the Boko Haram terrorist group. Over the past five months, there have been 26 suicide bombings reported, compared to the 27 total last year. What is more unsettling is the fact that nine of the incidents have involved children between the ages of 7 and 17.


RECAP ON THE ISSUE: Boko Haram is an extremist group that does not believe in girls’ right to attend school, and has been persecuting girls and women across Nigeria for the past six years. Last year, the group attacked a school and kidnapped over 270 girls.  The kidnapping called global attention to the issue and led to the hashtag campaign asking the Nigerian government to #BringBackOurGirls.


It is important to know that these children are not to blame here.

“Children are not instigating these suicide attacks; they are used intentionally by adults in the most horrific way,” said Jean Gough, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria. “They are first and foremost victims – not perpetrators.”

But even though it might be pretty clear cut that these kids are not acting on their own terms, the fact that Boko Haram is using children as a tactic is concerning because the lines can easily be blurred in conflict zones.

If this trend continues, UNICEF is worried that children will start being seen as potential threats, which puts them at risk of retaliation and can threaten their chances of getting back home.

There are approximately 743,000 children who have been affected by the conflict in Nigeria and the number of children separated from their families might be as high as 10,000, according to UNICEF.

A lot of the attention to #BrinkBackOurGirls has faded over the past year, but global citizens need to be louder than ever. Nigerian forces are working hard to uproot Boko Haram efforts and progress has been made, but children that have not made it home still need our help. We can’t let them be skewed as the enemy and be turned into combatants. Click here to sign the petition to push the Nigerian government to put all of its resources into finding and returning these children to their homes.

Editorial

Demand Equity

More suicide bombings are using women and children in Nigeria

By Alex Vinci