UNICEF, task force reintegrate 464 kids in North East

By : Njadvara Musa, Maiduguri

Date: 11 December 2019 4:22am WAT

A total of 88 children were released from the ranks of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in Maiduguri,on December 10, 2019, as part of its commitment to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children under an agreement reached with the United Nations. - The CJTF is a local militia that helps the Nigerian security forces in the fight against insurgency in north-east Nigeria. It was formed in 2013, with the aim of protecting communities from attack. (Photo by AUDU MARTE / AFP)

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Civilian JTF have reintegrated 464 children after separating them from armed groups in North East.

According to agency, the “separation is part of an action plan to end recruitment and use of children by Boko Haram insurgents.”

The exercise was consequent upon an accord struck between the two organisations.

UNICEF’s chief of Borno field office, Geoffrey Ijumba, yesterday in Maiduguri said the “ceremony serves to remind all of the obligations towards children affected by the decade-long armed conflict in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.”

He said, “with the separation of these children, it brings to 2,191 the number of kids separated in the last two years.”