Children in Boko Haram Conflict: The Neglected Facet of a Decade of Terror in Nigeria

Abstract

ABSTRACT In conflict and international studies, the security of children is gradually becoming a budding area of study. This is against the backdrop of rising concerns over the humanitarian and security dimensions of the experiences of children in conflict zones. This paper focuses on the case of children in the Boko Haram conflict, which has over a ten-year period ravaged the northeastern part of Nigeria and other areas of the Lake Chad. Despite the reality that children have been one of the most affected, the scholarly narrative of the conflict, as well as policy directions, do not seem to pay adequate attention to them. This paper, therefore, analyzes the implications of the Boko Haram conflict for child security and further appraises the existing interventions to deradicalize, rehabilitate and reintegrate children involved in the conflict. It demonstrates that children are of strategic interests to both the terrorists and the state security forces; hence, this poses a major threat to the freedom, survival and development of children in the conflict zone. The study advocates for the inclusion of child security in peacebuilding efforts in northeastern Nigeria.