Horror: War Has Stolen Many Nigerian Children - UN

* Nigeria ranks among the top five countries globally for child recruitment into combat.

* UN verified over 7,400 children recruited or used worldwide.

As the world marked the International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers on February 12, the United Nations delivered a chilling warning that Nigeria remains a hotspot where armed groups like Boko Haram rob children of their innocence, turning playgrounds into battlegrounds.

UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Vanessa Frazier named Nigeria alongside the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Syria, and Myanmar as nations with the most prevalent violations.

“In 2024 alone, over 7,400 children were recruited or used by armed forces and armed groups, and those are only the verified cases. Over the last 30 years, we have separated over 220,000 children from armed gangs,” she said in an exclusive UN News interview.

For more than a decade, northeast Nigeria's insurgency has scarred generations.

Boko Haram and splinter factions abduct and coerce boys into fighting or informant roles, while girls face forced marriages, sexual slavery, and suicide bombings.

Humanitarian agencies report that even as military operations weaken some groups, children in displaced camps and remote villages stay at high risk of exploitation.

Ms Frazier emphasized the human toll behind the numbers.

“Each number in our report representing a child whose innocence has been interrupted,” she said. Drawing from her visits to Nigeria, she recounted heartbreaking encounters: “You hear about a 13-year-old girl holding her baby, and you realise how deeply conflict steals childhood.

"Children are the epitome of innocence. They have not taken sides in any war, yet their innocence and childhood have both been interrupted. Children should never be treated as collateral of war,” she revealed.

The UN works tirelessly to free these children, negotiating releases and supporting reintegration through UNICEF and partners with psychosocial care, education, and family reunification.

“For societal reasons, some girls cannot be fully reintegrated and are considered damaged goods,” Ms Frazier noted.

Prevention remains the ultimate goal.

She highlighted prosecutions as deterrents' “When warlords or armed group leaders are prosecuted and sentenced for recruiting children, including in national courts and at least three cases before the International Criminal Court, it sends a powerful message.”

Education access proves crucial in shielding vulnerable youth from recruitment lures.