The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says a regional militia allied with Nigerian government forces has freed 900 children it had used in the war against Islamist Boko Haram insurgents.
The Non-state armed groups had between 2013 and 2017 engaged the children to fight against Boko Haram in the North East.
According to UNICEF, the release of the 900 brought the total number of children freed to more than 1,700.
“(This) is a step in the right direction for the protection of children’s rights and must be recognised and encouraged,” UNICEF Nigeria chief Mohamed Fall said in the statement, referring to Friday’s release by the militia group, which works closely with the military to fight Boko Haram.
“Children of northeast Nigeria have borne the brunt of this conflict. They have been used by armed groups in combatant and non-combatant roles and witnessed death, killing and violence.”
The war against Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria had claimed the lives of more than 30,000 people since 2009.