Amnesty International: Nigerian Government Allegedly Forced Rescued Chibok Girls To Marry Insurgents
There have been more than 1,700 kidnappings of school-aged children since 2014, with 17 such incidents documented in just six years. Additionally, 20 Chibok girls forced to marry ex-Boko Haram members were released.
Amnesty International has called on the Nigerian government to do more to free the 82 Chibok schoolgirls still held captive by Boko Haram in 2014 and to stop the spate of kidnappings that have occurred in the ten years following the infamous raid in northern Nigeria.
A decade has passed since the kidnapping of 276 students from the Chibok secondary school in Borno State on April 14, 2014. Gunmen abducted at least 1,700 children from schools and led them into the woods, where they suffered severe abuse, including rape, in at least 17 separate cases reported by Amnesty International since then.
“It is shocking that in the 10 years since the Chibok school abduction, the Nigerian authorities have not learned any lessons or taken effective measures to prevent attacks on schools. The number of abductions that have taken place since 2014, including as recently as last month, and the fact that hundreds of children are still in the custody of gunmen, shows the lack of political will by the authorities to address the problem,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.
“The abduction of children and attacks on schools may amount to war crimes. It is the duty of the Nigerian authorities to end these attacks and bring the suspected perpetrators to justice through fair trials and ensure access of victims to justice and effective remedies. A decade is enough time for the Nigerian authorities to find a solution to this problem, but so far, the reality shows the government has neither the will nor the commitment to end these attacks on children and their schools.”
In response to the kidnappings in Chibok, the government established the Safe Schools Initiative to beef up safety measures surrounding educational institutions. However, corruption charges and bureaucratic red tape have slowed its implementation. Consequently, numerous states in the north have permanently shut down hundreds of schools, affecting the education of thousands of students.
Education in Chibok and the neighbouring towns still feel the effects of the 2014 kidnappings, according to Amnesty International's investigations.
Following Boko Haram's 2014 destruction of the Government Girls Secondary Institution Chibok, the government of Borno State reconstructed the institution and also established day secondary schools and a technical school in the city. Still, parents are wary of sending their children to school for fear that Boko Haram would kidnap them, therefore academic activity in schools is low.
In addition, Amnesty International is urging the Nigerian government to investigate claims of forced marriage between 20 rescued Chibok women and former Boko Haram members at a facility in Maiduguri provided by the Borno state government in a timely, comprehensive, impartial, independent, transparent, and effective manner. Forced marriages were confirmed by the father of one of the victims to Amnesty International.
A parent of one of the girls forced into marriage with former Boko Haram fighters told Amnesty International: “I do not want a situation whereby if I speak, the government or Boko Haram will say we are conniving with others to expose issues to the public. I can speak on anonymity but will not still share everything.”
As part of the government's conflict recovery project for reformed Boko Haram members, the Borno state administration asserts that these individuals have completed rehabilitation and are now contributing members of society again.
“It is appalling that these freed Chibok girls were forced to marry and live with their abductors. Organized by the Borno state government, these forced marriages are apparently an attempt to appease Boko Haram fighters with complete disregard for the rights and mental wellbeing of the girls involved,” said Isa Sanusi.
The government has allegedly abandoned the families of the girls still in captivity, according to their claims. They point to the absence of information regarding efforts to secure the safe release of their daughters from Boko Haram as evidence.