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12 Nnamdi Azikiwe U. J. Int'l L. & Juris. 1 (2021)

handle is hein.journals/naujilj12 and id is 1 raw text is: NAUJILJ 12 (1) 2021 PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN VICTIMS OF ARMED CONFLICTS IN NORTH -EASTERN NIGERIA UNDER INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW* Abstract The Boko Haram insurgency started in 2002 as an Islamic Organization in response to local grievances in Borno State. Today, it has metamorphosed into a resilient force identified internationally for its brutality and declared an armed conflict of non-international character. Their activities are visible across Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States (North-Eastern Nigeria). The 1949 Four Geneva Conventions and the 1977 two Additional Protocols (AP I and II) regulate international and non-international armed conflicts. Nigeria ratified both in 1961 and 1988 respectively but is yet to domesticate the latter. The country has several national laws and is equally a signatory to human rights instruments protecting children in situations of armed conflict. Of significance is the Convention on the Rights of the Child domesticated as the Child Rights Act (CRA) in 2003. The above-mentioned States which are hot zones for vicious attacks are yet to adopt the CRA. This paper assesses Nigeria's commitments to international and regional frameworks protecting children during armed conflict. It analyses children's rights in the CRA and the need to urgently activate the enforcement mechanism in the North East. The writer recommends both preventive and protective measures. For the former, the root causes of conflict such as poverty, inequality and collapsed social structure must be tackled. The latter are ensuring family unification of unaccompanied or separated children; providing psycho-social programs to displaced children and abused as well as support the release and reintegration of children affected by the conflict. Keywords: Children, Armed Conflict, North-Eastern Nigeria, Humanitarian Law, Human Rights 1 Introduction The Boko Haram insurgency has become a global ruthless force in the African sub region.1 They operate specifically in the North Eastern Nigeria States of Adamawa, Borno, Yobe and neighbouring countries of Cameroun, Chad and Niger.2 They used children as child soldiers; suicide bombers; killed thousands and displaced millions of people within and beyond the borders of Nigeria; committed extreme acts of sexual violence against girls as many were * IYABODE OGUNNIRAN, PhD; Associate Professor, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, Nigeria. E mail: iyogunniran@yahoo.com, iogunniran@unilag.edu.ng. This paper was first presented at the 42nd Annual Conference of the Nigerian Society of International Law in Lagos, 2019. It has since been updated to accommodate the comments and present realities. 1 Y Oke, 'Insecurity Challenges in Nigeria-Boko Haram Insurgency, Bakassi Resettlement Crisis and the Niger Delta Militancy: A Thesis for Lasing Peace', International and Comparative Journal of Peace and Environment; 2014, vol 1, pp.77-81. 2 I O Albert, 'Rethinking the Functionality of the Multinational Joint Task Force in Managing the Boko Haram Crisis in the Lake Chad Basin', Africa Development, 2017, vol 42(3), pp.119-135 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/90018137> accessed 20 September 2019. 1I

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