Academy of Strategic Management Journal
Volume 20, Special Issue 1, 2021
CHILDREN AS TOOLS OF WAR IN NORTHEAST
NIGERIA: LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
AND THE NEED FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
James E. Archibong, University of Calabar
ABSTRACT
1n 2009, Boko Haram, a sectarian, extremist group, opposed to Western education, and
driven by violent ideology, launched an armed struggle against the federal government of
Nigeria. Widespread killings, destruction of property and displacement of people, have
characterized the ongoing conflict. It has also impacted negatively on children, as many have
been killed, mistreated, orphaned, exploited and conscripted by insurgents and pro-government
forces to fight. This paper probes the recruitment, use and roles of children in the conflict, which
has conferred on them the fluid status of victims and perpetrators. It has been found that the
insurgents and pro-government militia have recruited children below 15 years of age and
engaged them in combat and non-combat duties; and those suspected of links to the insurgents
have been detained in squalid conditions by the military. This has violated international
humanitarian law (IHL) and internationally recognized rights of children in circumstances
amounting to war crimes. The paper recommends immediate cessation of child conscription;
release of those detained; and prosecution of persons responsible for the violations, preferably
at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Keywords: Nigeria Insurgency, Child Soldiers, Tool of War, Humanitarian Law, War Crimes,
Tool of War.
INTRODUCTION
The outburst of public violence triggered by sectarian, fanatical and ideologically deviant
movements is not new among Nigerians, having survived their onslaughts in the past (Isichei,
1987). However, unlike past conflicts, which had been sporadic and short-lived, the Boko Haram
insurgency has been protracted and enduring, with a great toll on human and material resources
(Walker, 2012). The group Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad, also known as Boko
Haram (Western education is sinful), was birthed in 2002 as a non-violent, sectarian movement
led by Mohammed Yusuf (Onuoha, 2014; Walker, 2012). A face-off between devotees of the
sect and Nigerian government security personnel, following the death of Yusuf in police custody,
resulted in a violent confrontation in Octy 2009 in Maiduguri, Borno State (Onuoha, 2014;
Aljazeera, 2009; Obateru et al, 2009; Taiwo, 2009). The ensuing conflict quickly engulfed three
states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa (Daily Trust, 2019). What started as a skirmish soon
assumed an unmanageable dimension and eventually acquired the status of a non-international
armed conflict, which required the application of international rules of engagement within the
purview of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Additional (AP) II of 1977 (Ibanga &
Archibong, 2018). The violent confrontation has spanned 13 years, and without any hope of
ending soon, has caused massive humanitarian crises, loss of thousands of lives, unquantifiable
destruction of property and dislocation of millions of people (Montclos, 2014; United States
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Citation Information: Archibong, J.E. (2021). Children as tools of war in northeast nigeria: legal implications and the need for
accountability. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 20(S2), 1-10.
Academy of Strategic Management Journal
Volume 20, Special Issue 1, 2021
Department of State, 2014; Okpaga et al, 2012: 86-89; Nwokolo, 2020). The attacks, killings and
destruction of property spilled over into Cameroon and Niger republics (Foyou et al, 2018;
Nnam, 2018).
A unique feature of the insurgency has been the overwhelming use of child soldiers.
Thousands of underage fighters have been recruited by insurgents and the Civilian Joint Task
Force (CJTF), a pro-government militia, created in 2013 to support the armed forces. UNICEF
puts the number of conscripted child soldiers at more than 8,000 since the inception of the
conflict in 2009. Children have been major participants in the conflict in northeast Nigeria,
having been conscripted by the opposing sides (Onapajo, 2020; Bukarti, 2019). In that respect,
they constitute a critical asset in sustaining and prolonging the insurgency (Jorgensen, 2017).
The unwavering determination, persistent efforts, and resilience displayed by the insurgents have
presented the Nigerian military with an immense challenge in their arduous mission to quell the
insurgency. Following international condemnation of its engagement of children in the conflict,
the CJTF signed an Action Plan in 2017 committing it to end the practice (UNICEF, 2017). In
one swoop, CJTF discharged 894 children, among them 106 girls and subsequently released
more than 2,000 children (UNICEF, 2018; Archibong, 2019). This was greeted with the
subsequent delisting of the group by the UN from the list of organizations recruiting child
soldiers (UNICEF, 2017).
Arguably, the conflict has been protracted because of the unrelenting recruitment and
use of children, and the accompanying advantages their participation fetches. The following
questions are therefore relevant concerning the recruitment of children to fight in the conflict:
Why are the armed groups endeared to child soldiers? And what are the obligations of the
Nigerian government to children recruited to fight in the conflict? Using the socio-legal
approach, this work explores the incident of child soldiers and provides a succinct analysis of the
factors propelling their engagement by the warring parties. The work further interrogates the
roles assigned to children; the legal protections offered to them with the obligations of the
Nigerian government; and the lack of accountability for recruiters of child soldiers.
Conceptual Considerations
Like other vulnerable groups, the law protects the rights of children in peacetime and times of
armed conflict. The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) defines a child as any person
under the age of 18 years (Art. 1). A child soldier therefore is a person under the age of 18, who
participates in an armed conflict (Haer, 2019). He or she may be conscripted or used by a regular armed
force or armed group of any caliber (Kaplan, 2005). In armed conflicts, the CRC enjoins parties to abstain
from recruiting any person below 15 years of age (Art. 38[3]). The 1949 Geneva Conventions and
Additional Protocols of 1977 set 15 as the minimum age for participation in armed conflict. The African
Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Art. 22[2]) and the Convention on the Worst Forms of
Child Labour (Arts. 1 and 3) outlaw the recruitment of children. Rules 136 and 137 of customary
international humanitarian law also prohibit the recruitment of children. The legal restrictions
notwithstanding, the inclusion of children in armed conflicts is a recurrent episode and has become a
global nightmare for governments, policymakers, researchers and human rights activists (Kaplan, 2005).
The child soldier phenomenon thrives under certain situations, such as those of social chaos and
preclusion, the collapse of the state, economic doldrums and ethnic or religious strife, among other factors
(Akesson, 2017). Most conscription is done forcibly, and often achieved through abductions, coercion and
subjection to abuses. Enlistment could be voluntary when a child joins militant groups by choice. Their
choices may be influenced by social, political, economic or ideological considerations. This could arise
from family ties to armed groups and felt the need to honour their families or countries by aligning with
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Citation Information: Archibong, J.E. (2021). Children as tools of war in northeast nigeria: legal implications and the need for
accountability. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 20(S2), 1-10.
Academy of Strategic Management Journal
Volume 20, Special Issue 1, 2021
them in times of conflict (Meshelemiah, 2019; 7. Associated Press, 2015).
Some theories have been articulated to explain the practice (ICRC, 2012). Armed groups recruit
children into their ranks due largely to some perceived advantages. Children may join armed groups as a
strategy for survival and safety guarantees (ICRC, 2012). This becomes a platform for them to address
issues of hunger, poverty, unemployment and other economic deprivations, as they are sometimes paid
for their services (Onuoha, 2014; Schauer & Elbert, 2010). They may join armed groups to exact
vengeance for abuses, rights violations, historical injustices and political afflictions.
Children are easily adaptable, indoctrinated and brainwashed and less likely to question the
actions of adults (Schauer & Elbert, 2010). They are also radicalized by violent extremists and violent
ideologies propagated by armed groups (Onuoha, 2014). Children can easily be swindled and manipulated
and more susceptible to greater obedience than adults (Meshelemiah, 2019). This might be essentially due
to their level of cognitive development. Demographically, the large number of children in war-torn
countries makes them readily available for deployment (Schauer & Elbert, 2010). This has further been
compounded by the large-scale availability of small arms and light weapons, which children can easily
operate in conflict situations. Another advantage offered by child soldiers is their stamina, resilience, and
fearlessness (Schauer & Elbert, 2010; 8. Barna, 2014). Tactically, they can easily slip through and attack
enemy lines unnoticed. They are cheaper and easier to maintain in terms of needs, as they are allocated
fewer resources (Schauer & Elbert, 2010).
The recruitment of children into the armed forces constitutes a crime punishable under
international law (McBride, 2014). To give effect to the proscription, international law has devised a
mechanism for holding violators accountable through prosecution and punishment. Under the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), child recruitment is a crime for which the perpetrators
are culpable. The doctrine of accountability therefore ensures that persons involved in the practice are
prosecuted in national or international courts (Pejic, 2002). It acts as a deterrent and serves to promote
justice, peace and reconciliation.
Why armed groups in Nigeria recruit children
Children's unsuspecting disposition and perceived innocence are exploited by armed groups to
perpetrate heinous crimes most regrettably (Happold, 2009). They are roped into activities far beyond
their cognitive inclination and sense of rationality, due to their tender age and inability to fathom the
consequences of their actions. Children's susceptibility makes them prone to exploitation by adults. Their
enlistment in northeast Nigeria has been influenced by various socio-economic conditions that heightened
their susceptibleness and exposed them to flowery propaganda (Onuoha, 2014). Factors such as illiteracy
inaccessibility to education; unemployment and social injustice; high level of poverty lack of proper care
and upbringing; and indoctrinations of various kinds have driven children into the receptive arms of
insurgents (Jorgensen, 2019; Onuoha, 2014). The Almajiri system in the north exposes male children to
pitiable conditions of poverty and hunger and leaves them vulnerable to indoctrination, recruitment or
abduction by violent groups (Young, 2019).
The armed groups have radicalized and indoctrinated children into believing their extremist
ideology (Associated Press, 2015; Onuoha, 2014), many of whom were easily convinced, beguiled and
brainwashed by promises of martyrdom (Starecheski, 2015; Kajijo & Kaina, 2020). The young conscripts
were misguided and misinformed that they were trained, equipped and deployed to go and kill pagans
(Topol, 2017). Reports from ex-Boko Haram child soldiers revealed that they were sent for induction into
the group’s brainwashing education programme (Okamura, 2019), where they were infused with violent
teachings, ideologies and extremism.
The groups have employed diverse conscription methods, with mass abductions emerging as the
most notable among them. Most of the children were abducted at schools, playgrounds and homes and
forcefully conscripted into the war (Lawal, 2019). The high point was the abduction of 276 Chibok
schoolgirls in 2014, an act that attracted worldwide condemnation (Reliefweb, 2015; Arai-Takahashi,
2014). Some of the girls have never been found and are believed to have been deployed as suicide
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Citation Information: Archibong, J.E. (2021). Children as tools of war in northeast nigeria: legal implications and the need for
accountability. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 20(S2), 1-10.
Academy of Strategic Management Journal
Volume 20, Special Issue 1, 2021
bombers and combatants (Mail & Guardian, 2015; Ripples Nigeria, 2017). The abducted children
underwent compulsory military training in Sambisa Forest (Lawal, 2019) before being forced to ingest
cocaine, heroin and other hard drugs. Often, they were severed from family bonds and instilled with a
robust, passionate and inseparable tie to the groups and their cause (Associated Press, 2015). Bukarti
(2019) explains the experience of a boy who was recruited at the age of 14 and had committed many
crimes, including being made to kill his mother. Outcast, unschooled and indoctrinated, the children
become wholly reliant on their guns and taskmasters (Lawal, 2019). Whereas most of the conscripts were
abducted, some of them joined voluntarily, to avenge the deaths of their parents and loved ones. Cases
also emerged of parents who handed out their daughters to Boko Haram to serve as fighters to sustain the
insurgency (Ibrahim & Agency Report, 2017). Boko Haram and ISWAP have operational bases and
camps in the Sambisa forest, where nearly all of the children are housed (Lawal, 2019), and where they
are trained to be cold-blooded murderers (Powell, 2015; Kaplan, 2015). They are also instructed on how
to shoot an AK-47 rifle, load ammunition and aim at targets, and use bombs (Amnesty International,
2015; Topol, 2017).
Children as tools of war
Boko Haram imposed a period of brutality using children as its main tool of war (Kaplan, 2015;
Human Rights Watch, 2013; ICRC, 2012) with many serving in combat and non-combat capacity (,
2019). A sizeable number were forced to carry out domestic chores before being groomed to use guns and
explosives. As combatants, child soldiers are employed in front-line fighting, to carry out the execution of
hostages or prisoners and to perform terrorist attacks (Human Rights Watch, 2013). Children have served
as foot soldiers and joined in deadly missions as they can be manipulated without difficulty and made to
operate in the public arena with minimal apprehension (Jorgensen, 2019; Reliefweb, 2015). In that
capacity, they have witnessed and participated in large-scale violence, while at the same time eliciting the
compassion of government forces that will be withdrawn and reluctant to attack them. Child soldiers are
used for tactical operations, often to launch initial attacks before reinforcement with skillful fighters
(CRACO, 2015). Strategically, the employment of juveniles helps to boost national and international
depiction of the groups (Kriel, 2017; Daily Trust,2019).
Children have been turned into weapons and employed to carry out suicide bombings, with the
age of the youngest bomber put at seven (The Borgent Project, 2018; Kriel, 2017; Kaplan, 2015a).
UNICEF alleges that suicide bombing has become systematic and widespread, and young girls are the
main favourites for this assignment, the rationale being their unlikelihood of attention and suspicion. This
created fear and mistrust, as a suspicious-looking girl was lynched and her body burnt by a mob in
Bauchi, northeast Nigeria (Kaplan, 2015b). By August, 2017, 83 children had been utilized as ‘human
bombs’, four times higher than the number in 2016 (PBS News, 2017; UNICEF, 2020). In the course of
their combat role, children have killed thousands of people and injured several others as well as
participated in gang rape, ceremonial sacrifice, mutilating and murdering neighbours or family members
(Topol, 2017). The task of hostage execution has on numerous occasions been entrusted to them to
radicalize and make them merciless and thoughtless when they are assigned deadly duties on the frontline.
In a non-combat capacity, they have been used to execute several insurgent operations including
spying against state troops, manning checkpoints, running errands for the kingpins, and serving as
messengers, potters, smugglers, and minesweepers. The CJTF inducted and utilized children-to-man
checkpoints; conducted searches on suspects, and identified and sometimes apprehended suspected
insurgents in their communities (US Department of State, 2016). Children keep the night shift of
surveillance while the older members sleep, serve as informants as well and provide sundry services.
Domestic chores and preparation of food are carried out by female captives (Benrey, 2016), who are also
forced to serve as sex slaves or ‘wives’ and systematically abused (Reliefweb, 2015). Male conscripts are
coerced to function as slaves to the senior members of the sect.
Child soldiers have taken an active part in the looting and evacuation of spoils and other
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Citation Information: Archibong, J.E. (2021). Children as tools of war in northeast nigeria: legal implications and the need for
accountability. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 20(S2), 1-10.
Academy of Strategic Management Journal
Volume 20, Special Issue 1, 2021
valuables (Topol, 2017), and have also been forced to commit heinous crimes, such as summary
execution of Nigerian soldiers and other innocent captives. Children participated in flogging captives who
could not recite the Quran (Powell, 2015) among many unspeakable acts.
Status of the Conflict and Obligations of The Nigerian Government
The hostilities between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government's armed forces have been
adjudged a non-international armed conflict by the ICC, which triggers the application of IHL (Office of
the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, 2013; Ibanga & Archibong, 2018). Several
international legal instruments offer protection to children in times of hostilities. In situations of noninternational armed conflict, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Additional Protocol II of 1977 protect
children from attacks and any form of indecent assault (Art. 3 common to the GCs and Art. 4, 13 APII;
Happold, 2009). They are also entitled to assistance and care; and those arrested, detained or interned
should be treated humanely.
International law also forbids the involvement of children in armed confrontations (Happold,
2009; Art. 4[3c] APII). The Rome Statute of the ICC includes recruitment of children or their
participation in non-international armed conflict in the list of war crimes (Art. 8 [2][e][VII]). States are
endowed with the obligation to enforce the law and policy relating to children affected by armed conflict,
and to incorporate international norms into the national legal system, as well as institute measures to
implement them (ICRC, 2012). Nigeria has subscribed to international norms outlawing the employment
of children in armed encounters, having ratified the relevant conventions (Geneva Conventions Act LFN
2004). It has also evolved a normative scheme for protecting the rights of children, following the
enactment of the Child Rights Act (CRA), a comprehensive federal legislation on the rights of children in
2003. It domesticates the rights of children as encapsulated in various international instruments.
Performance and Motivation at Work
Obligations of the Nigerian Government
For Oravee (2019), work performance is an effective or emotional response that can be expressed
in various ways, so that the individual performance of the employee is obtained it is necessary to seek
ways to raise their motivation, and this can occur both by external motivations, as internal, when
individuals feel motivated with the work they are willing to put more energy in their activities this way
fulfilling their activities in a more satisfactory way, however if the opposite occurs, if the individual is
dissatisfied in relation to organizational activities, their motivation will be affected this way leaving to be
desired in the performance of their activities (Oravee, 2019;
Daily Trust, 2019).
Job performance is tied to several variables, and many of them can be by individual factors such
as: an individual's personality, job qualifications, the individual's skills, their marital status, and also their
orientation. Social factors such as: relationships with co-workers and managers, group work, and
following norms are also among the factors that have a relationship with job performance (ORAVEE,
2019).
Another factor that encourages job performance are rewards, according to Fourie (2008 apud
Zondo, 2018), a proper reward system tends to increase a team's performance. Zondo (2018) reports that a
reward system such as profit sharing tends to increase team performance, since in a practice such as profit
sharing, the team needs to be in tune for the achievement of results, consequently improving the
achievement of established goals.
Grave Violations Against Children
The insurgency has been inundated with grave violations against children, perpetrated by all sides
of the conflict (ICRC, 2019). Children witnessed deaths, killings and violence, and their involvement in
gruesome activities incurred grave consequences on their physical and emotional well-being (Bukarti,
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Citation Information: Archibong, J.E. (2021). Children as tools of war in northeast nigeria: legal implications and the need for
accountability. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 20(S2), 1-10.
Academy of Strategic Management Journal
Volume 20, Special Issue 1, 2021
2019). Heinous crimes have been committed against children, especially widespread sexual violence
within the insurgency; and of children detained in facilities run by security agents (Amnesty International,
2019; Xinhua, 2019; Read, 2017). Other abuses against young girls include forced conversion to Islam,
physical, psychological and emotional abuse, forced marriage, forced labour, and forced involvement in
insurgency operations.
Under IHL, persons who do not take a direct part or have refrained from participation in combat
shall enjoy humane treatment in all circumstances, and this applies to child soldiers (Art. 4 AP II). The
law further provides special protection for any child under 15 years of age who is arrested, detained or
interned for reasons relating to hostilities (Art. 4(3)(d)). The Nigerian authorities have done nothing to
enforce international obligations relating to the protection of children affected by the insurgency, thus
making violations a recurrent feature in the conflict. Neither side has demonstrated any willingness to
respect the basic rights of children directly involved in the conflict or affected by it. The manner of their
treatment has been inconsistent with the principles of IHL and, in most cases, amounted to war crimes.
Government forces captured children they suspected of involvement in the insurgency, in the
course of military and security operations, during screening procedures for internally displaced persons,
and based on tips (Holmes, 2019; Bukarti, 2019). In most cases, arrests and detentions were done
arbitrarily on mere suspicion that they might have collaborated with the insurgents, allegations which
were not substantiated due to lack of evidence (Holmes, 2019). A boy who was caught selling foodstuff to
sect members was incarcerated for two years (Holmes, 2019). Thousands of those allegedly allied to the
insurgents were kept in military custody. In 2017 alone, the military detained over 1,900 children at the
Maiduguri Maximum Security Prison (Holmes, 2019; Bukarti, 2019).
Serious violations occurred at government detention centers, at Maiduguri Maximum Security
Prison and Giwa Barracks. Children were detained in the same facility where adults and condemned
criminals were held. According to those who had been released, the conditions in detention were
miserable and intolerable (Lawal, 2019). Apart from overcrowding, the prison cells were of very poor
sanitary conditions. Child detainees experienced severe conditions of extreme heat, constant hunger and
foul odour emitted from the only open toilet provided for them ((Holmes, 2019, Aluko, 2019).
Often characterized by beatings, torture and deaths, life in Giwa barracks was tough for children
(Lawal, 2019; Aluko, 2019). A child detainee described how children in anguish yelled every night
because of the harsh treatment meted out to them (Dwyer, 2017). Evacuation of dead bodies of detainees
from various cells by security personnel was a regular occurrence ((Holmes, 2019). The suspected child
soldiers endured bad experiences and wasted years in detention, without being apprised of the charges
against them or allowed access to a lawyer or UN officials (Holmes, 2019).
Impact on Child Soldiers
Children freed from Boko Haram or released from military custody suffered from nightmares
(Bukarti, 2019). Their liberation has come with a huge stigma, ostracism, trauma and other challenges
(Okamura, 2019). They suffer stigmatization and are shunned by their communities. No one likes them
because they were once allies of the hateful enemy. The post-militancy trauma constitutes a huge
emotional and psychological strain on the psyche of the children (Lawal, 2019). Reintegration and
resettlement into normal life become herculean as the conscription creates, mistrust suspicion and
rejection when they are eventually freed (UNICEF, 2017).
Enlistment of children into Boko Haram and other armed groups has had a devastating impact on
society and deprives them of childhood and the prospects of a bright future (Reliefweb, 2015). A major
problem occasioned by the conflict is the upsurge in out-of-school children, arising from the mass
adduction of students, the killing of students and teachers, and the destruction of schools (Reliefweb,
2015). It compounds the problem in a country currently ranked first in the world in terms of out-of-school
children.
Dearth of Accountability For Crimes Against Children
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Citation Information: Archibong, J.E. (2021). Children as tools of war in northeast nigeria: legal implications and the need for
accountability. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 20(S2), 1-10.
Academy of Strategic Management Journal
Volume 20, Special Issue 1, 2021
A normative framework for child rights protection exists in Nigeria. Regrettably,
violators of these rights in the current conflict have not been held accountable (Sherrie RussellBrown, 2018). Neither the personnel of the armed forces nor members of the armed groups have
been prosecuted for crimes against children. Rather than prosecute sect members, the
government has offered them reprieve in the form of de-radicalization, demobilization and
rehabilitation under the so-called ‘Operation Safe Corridor’ (Bukarti, 2019). This transpires
against the backdrop of total neglect of their victims by the government, save for the intervention
of UNICEF.
With the application of sanctions, persons who violate IHL during non-international
armed conflicts are individually criminally responsible for their actions (Sliedregt, 2012). The
position of international law was articulated after the establishment of the ad hoc tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia in 1993 (Mettraux, 2010), wherein the Appeal Chamber ruled in 1995 that
violations of IHL extended beyond grave breaches to a range of serious violations of the Geneva
Conventions and their Additional Protocols (The Prosecutor v Dusko Tadic Case No. IT – 94 –
AR 72). The Rome Diplomatic Conference also confirmed this ruling and developed detailed
codifications of war crimes committed in breach of common Article 3 and Additional Protocol
II, which were incorporated into the Rome Statute of the ICC. The ICC Statute defines “war
crimes” to include “Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into national
armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities (Art. 8(2)(a)(xxvi)).
International case law has also upheld charges of recruitment and use of children in
armed conflict as a war crime (United Nations, 2017; Mann, 1987). The first such rulings
emanated from the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) in 2007, which indicted the Sierra
Leone government forces and rebel leaders for recruiting children as fighters (Jalloh, 2020). It
was contended at the Special Court that recruitment of children was not a crime under
international law at the time the act was committed. A panel of the Appeals Chamber ruled that it
was indeed internationally recognized as a war crime in 1996 and that the ICC Statute of 1998,
which listed child recruitment as a war crime, merely codified the existing accepted situation.
The accused persons were convicted for enrolling children and actively engaging them in
hostilities (Human Rights Watch, 2007). In a high profile case, child recruitment, among other
charges, was also preferred against Charles Taylor, at the time president of Liberia. His plea of
immunity as a serving head of state notwithstanding, the Special Court found him guilty of
enlistment and use of child soldiers (Jalloh, 2020; Frulli, 2011).
The ICC has also ruled on cases of enlisting, conscripting and using children under 15
years of age in combat (Arai-Takahashi, 2019; 28. Bartolini,2019). The first case was against
Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots (The Prosecutor v. Thomas
Lubanga Dyilo ICC-01/04-01/06). His indictment included recruitment and use of child soldiers
in combat duties (Inder, 2011). He was convicted and sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment.
Another case to be prosecuted at the ICC for child conscription was that of Bosco Ntaganda,
former Deputy Chief of Staff and commander of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo
(The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda ICC-01/04-02/06). He was sentenced to 30 years of
imprisonment (ICC, 2012; Kajjo,2020).
The ICC showed interest in Nigeria following the rebellion and attendant violence in
2009 and initiated a preparatory examination on the situation in the country since 2010 (Office of
the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, 2013). A 2015 report of the preparatory
examination on the situation in Nigeria recognized eight potential cases of war crimes and crimes
against humanity, which included recruitment and use of child soldiers (Ibekwe, 2015). Seven
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Citation Information: Archibong, J.E. (2021). Children as tools of war in northeast nigeria: legal implications and the need for
accountability. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 20(S2), 1-10.
Academy of Strategic Management Journal
Volume 20, Special Issue 1, 2021
years later, not a single indictment for child conscription has been registered.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Recommendations
Former child soldiers need psychosocial support, financial support, education and vocational
training to enable them reintegrate properly into society. Concerted attempts should be made to
enhance their livelihood through various support programmes.
There should be an immediate release of children from detention. Intermittently, former child
soldiers have been freed by the security forces and handed over to the Borno State government and
UNICEF in Maiduguri It is essential for other children in military custody to be released
forthwith. In this regard, UNICEF has enjoined the government to sign the Handover Protocol for
children caught in the conflict, who were associated with armed groups, to facilitate their release
from detention.
The issue of how captured child soldiers in military custody are treated depends on the perception
of their roles in the conflict. There is a need to employ a human rights approach in dealing with
situations involving juvenile crimes, especially when it involves terrorism.
Perpetrators of crimes against children, especially recruitment and use in the conflict, must not go
unpunished. If they are not prosecuted by the Nigerian authorities, the ICC should invoke its
jurisdiction and hold them accountable.
The government should tackle the current high rate of poverty and unemployment, as this would
make the insurgency economically unattractive to young persons.
The government must address urgently the large number of out-of-school children in the northern
part of the country, which is a ticking time bomb.
The Nigerian government needs to propagate and uphold IHL at all times. It should disseminate
the rules of IHL among personnel involved in the armed conflict. Military commanders and their
subordinates should be acquainted with the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols, as this
will enhance their effectiveness and respect for IHL and human rights. In addition to
dissemination, the Nigerian authorities should invest in the training of its personnel especially
those involved in the use of weapons.
CONCLUSION
Children in northeast Nigeria have been victims of humanitarian crises, poverty,
inaccessibility to formal education and abuses of all kinds, for far too long, due largely to their
vulnerability, gullibility, illiteracy and indoctrination, which make them easily swayed and
deceived into making irrational decisions. Children get to be recruited into extremist groups and
are either forced or fooled into doing things they would not have otherwise done. They get to be
viewed from the lenses of perpetrators and relegated to the perpetuity of facing the resultant
consequences of crimes they were 'used' to commit. Therefore, in dealing with their
participation in the insurgency, there is a need for the Nigerian authorities to view them as
victims and adopt a human rights concept to rescue them from the claws of extremist groups and
terrorist organizations. This approach will view them as vulnerable 'tools' in the service of
terrorist groups, and as such explore how to deliver them from the ordeals, they currently find
themselves in.
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Academy of Strategic Management Journal
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Received: 05-Oct-2021, Manuscript No. ASMJ-21-13764; Editor assigned: 07-Oct-2021, PreQC No. ASMJ-21-13764 (PQ); Reviewed: 21Oct-2021, QC No. ASMJ-21-13764; Revised: 24-Oct-2021, Manuscript No. ASMJ-21-13764 (R); Published: 29-Oct-2021
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1939-6104-20-S2-668
Citation Information: Archibong, J.E. (2021). Children as tools of war in northeast nigeria: legal implications and the need for
accountability. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 20(S2), 1-10.