The Nigerian Army
has been accused of killing children fathered by insurgents.
In the
investigation published on Monday, Reuters reported
that top army commanders allegedly ordered soldiers to “delete” children born
to insurgents.
According to the report, the directive was issued “because
the children were assumed to be collaborating with militants in Boko Haram or
its Islamic State offshoot, or to have inherited the tainted blood of insurgent
fathers”.
The international news agency said more than 40 soldiers and civilians interviewed for the investigation said they witnessed officers of the Nigerian military “kill children or saw children’s corpses after a military operation”.
“Intentional killings
of children have occurred with a blurring frequency across the region during
the war, according to witnesses interviewed by Reuters,” the investigation
reads in part.
“More than 40 sources said they saw the Nigerian military
target and kill children or saw the dead bodies of children after a military
operation.
“These sources included both parents and other civilian
witnesses, as well as soldiers who said they participated in dozens of military
operations in which children were slaughtered. Together, their estimates added
up to thousands of children killed.”
Reuters said it could not independently verify the estimate
that thousands of children were killed during military operations against
insurgency.
But the news agency said six specific incidents investigated
by reporters indicated that at least 60 children were killed in those
incidents.
In the investigation, Yagana Bukar, a mother of twins,
narrated how soldiers “smothered” her four-month-old twin boys after she and a
group of other women and children escaped from Boko Haram fighters.
“The soldiers said they killed those children because they
are children of Boko Haram — they are not human beings,” Bukar said.
“They threatened me
that if I wasn’t careful and didn’t keep quiet, they would kill me as well.”
In another witness’ testimony, a soldier reportedly said he
enjoys killing children who were suspected to be fathered by insurgents due to
the belief that they may grow up to become insurgents.
“Soldiers often cited as a reason for killing children the
belief that if their fathers were insurgents, then they would grow up to be the
same,” the report reads.
“The killing was also a way for some officers to avenge
heavy losses in fighting with Islamist insurgents, or for soldiers to vent
their anger over the deaths of their comrades.
“Other soldiers said
they had adopted a kill-or-be-killed attitude toward children because
insurgents used them as fighters, informants and suicide bombers.”
On December 7, an investigation published by Reuters
accused the Nigerian Army of carrying out illegal
However, the Defence
Headquarters had said the Nigerian Army has never forced rescued
women and girls to abort pregnancies.
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