INSURGENCY: VIDEO OF BOKO HARAM TRAINING CHILD SOLDIERS EMERGES

As the war against insurgency persists, a video of Boko Haram training child soldiers has emerged. The 16 minutes, 40 seconds video showed the jihadists religiously indoctrinating the children while also training them in martial arts and weapon handling at an undisclosed location. 

The faces of the children could not be seen as they were dressed in balaclava and combat style clothing. Recall Intelligence reported that the Boko Haram/ISIS jihadists were actively recruiting children, some as young as 7 as frontline soldiers, suicide bombers, and spies.

While some of the children are lured into insurgency through juicy offers and religious indoctrination, many others are kidnapped and forcefully recruited.  

According to security experts Intelligence, as of May 2020, over 500 child soldiers had been recruited, trained and graduated at a location in the Lake Chad Axis known only as Tudun Kurna. 

Recently, a repentant Boko Haram child soldier who was kidnapped from his village at the age of 10 and forcefully recruited as a jihadist fighter, revealed how Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Jama’at Ahl al-Sunna lil Da’wa wal Jihad (JAS) lost his leg and became incapacitated in one of the devastating air bombardment by the Nigerian Army in the insurgents camp in Tumbuktu – Sambisa forest.

The young jihadist named Mohammed Adam, now 15, was kidnapped by the sect from his native town in Firgi in Gwoza local government area, South of the Northeastern Borno state. Adam confessed to taking active roles in several Operations under the command of Abubakar Shekau, including escorting the kidnapped Chibok girls to a camp in Tumbuktu.

ADVISORY: Military Intelligence should be deployed to locate and destroy the camp where the child soldiers are being trained to break the cycle of insurgency.

Credit: EONS Intelligence