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Waverly Kennedy

Phillips

AP English

13 December 2017

Nigerian Civil Wars and Its Impact on Children

Imagine living in a home with one's family, and the older brother and sister have just

been kidnapped. This would be a terrifying experience for all members of the family.

Throughout Nigeria, children experience these thoughts and actions everyday mainly because of

the group Boko Haram. Boko Haram is a group that harms communities with violent attacks,

which indirectly means “‘western education is forbidden’” (“More than Half of Borno Schools

Closed over Boko Haram”). The group aims for schools throughout northern Nigeria, as well as

neighboring countries, and abducts children to become child soldiers and work for them. As

Boko Haram strikes Nigeria, adolescents increasingly become unstable in terms of health and

lose educational privileges. Their health problems and lack of education cause them to struggle

in present day, and in the future. While everyone in Western Africa is put in danger from civil

wars, Nigerian children are the ones most largely impacted, especially in terms of health and

education.

Boko Haram set up their main camp in Borno, a state in Nigeria. This is where a large

portion of schools have shut down. In fact, since 2009, more than 600 teachers have been killed,

and “19,000 [were] forced to flee” (Barr). The lack of teachers means that more students would

be put into classes together, and less learning would take place on account of distractions and

activities. For certain schools, not enough teachers are present to keep the schools functioning,

which results in the schools being closed down. As an outcome of so many schools being shut
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down, children have little to no access to education, meaning that they are more likely to become

“trapped in a cycle of poverty” (Waller). When children grow up, they will have no education

that would be needed to perform their jobs in their future; this would result in a lower

economical position for these adult children.

In addition to the attacks on schools and their impact on children, different health risks

and diseases are hurting their society. “Malnutrition, violence, and an outbreak of cholera” is

beginning to create “a lost generation of children” (“More than Half of Borno Schools Closed

over Boko Haram”). The generation affected struggles to thrive in the world they live in today.

Diseases, such as Polio, have begun to circle around and infect the children (McVeigh).

Vaccination teams spread throughout Nigeria, hoping to give every child a vaccine for Polio and

other diseases; however, Boko Haram dislikes these vaccination teams and prevents them from

helping others in Borno, Nigeria’s capital. Because of this, Polio has returned there and in nearby

areas (McVeigh). The spreading of Polio makes people fearful of possibly catching the disease,

and it makes it harder to defeat Boko Haram. Children are the ones most likely to catch different

diseases because they are the generation most likely not vaccinated. Because Polio and other

diseases have returned, people fear that “those fleeing their violence could bring the virus back

into the wider country” (McVeigh). When people escape their town, even if they did not know

that they caught a disease, there is a chance that it could be spread to anyone that crosses their

path, and this could quickly spread throughout Nigeria. With possible diseases spreading,

children are at risk of getting each other sick, as well as those around them.

With children getting sick from different diseases, their health slowly deteriorates.

Additionally, many children are killed or severely injured because of these wars, permanently

damaging or even ending their lives. Since Boko Haram began eight years ago, around 3900
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children have been killed, and 7300 injured (Akinwotu). These deaths and injuries occur because

of multiple reasons. They range from suicide bombers, to kidnappings, or just being in the wrong

place at the wrong time. Speaking of suicide bombers, Boko Haram kidnaps any child under the

age of eighteen to be forced to work for the group; this includes suicide missions. Currently,

more than 80 children were “human bombs” since the beginning of this year (“More than Half of

Borno Schools Closed over Boko Haram”). Boko Haram forces kids to wear bombs and perform

a suicide mission in order to gain attention to the group. According to information from the

United Nations (UN) children agency, the numbers of children that are used in a suicide bomb

job has been four times higher than last year (“UNICEF: Boko Haram use of Child Bombers

Soars”). With children used as the suicide victims for the missions, the entire population is

victimized because they could have personal relations to the children, and it reminds others how

cruel and violent Boko Haram is.

Other than abduction, some children run away to dangerous organizations such as Boko

Haram. Several people, like Nigerian rights activist and journalist Hafsat Muhammed, believe

that children run away to Boko Haram because “they feel that they belong” there (“UNICEF:

Boko Haram use of Child Bombers Soars”). Many children grow up with the violence and

attacks happening around them. These attacks are all these children know, and they begin to feel

out of place in their community; this could really hurt their health and what they think of

themselves. Additionally, children manage to escape captivity of Boko Haram; however, when

they make it back to their home villages, they are often rejected by the community (“UNICEF:

Boko Haram use of Child Bombers Soars”). The community believes that the child has been

infected with ideas from Boko Haram, and could potentially harm the people. When children are
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rejected from society, they have nowhere to go and end up fending for themselves in the

dangerous world.

Physical health problems are widely noticed, while mental health problems are often

overlooked in society; this includes destroyed childhoods and a destroyed innocence. Mohamed

Fall, a UNICEF representative of Nigeria, expresses that he has “‘seen too many childhoods

destroyed by the crisis in the northeast’” (Akinwotu). This is a result of children recruited into

Boko Haram, and them being forced to perform dangerous tasks that adult soldiers normally do.

Those who are recruited (or abducted) are sent to secret camps for training in order to fight and

help Boko Haram (“Nigerian Army ‘Kills’ Large Number of Boko Haram Insurgents, frees Nine

Kids held at Secret Camp”). These secret camps are mainly made up of boys. When Boko Haram

attacks a certain area, the village is left in fragments, with everything gone. Those in need can

obtain no help, and slowly suffer. In Borno, more than half of the 7 million people that are in

need of “humanitarian assistance” are children. These children usually suffer from injuries or

diseases obtained over the attacks, and they still seek help weeks after the obstruction has taken

place. With the violence and health problems circulating, children lose their innocence by facing

issues usually handled by average adults.

Some Nigerian adults may claim that their lives are impacted far worse than those of

children, but children experience many things that could potentially hurt their adult years. This

includes multiple types of diseases and health defects, as well as limited education. According to

Kareem Adebayo from the Xinhua News Agency, he states that “in Nigeria with Boko Haram …

these people use children, they brainwash the children to achieve their dastardly acts”

(“AMISOM Calls for End of use of Child Soldiers in Somalia”). These children may never be

themselves again after their experiences with Boko Haram, which could hurt their futures; the
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young generation will live in poverty if the violent attacks do not stop. In addition to this, Boko

Haram specifically targets schools for attacks on children and in order to prohibit learning. One

way that the insurgency recruits children is by abducting school girls and forcing young boys to

be child soldiers (“Nigeria’s Boko Haram Conflict: Huge Rise in Child ‘Human Bombs’”). With

these abductions happening over Nigeria, children are put in constant danger, most instances

with their lives at risk. While adults experience the same thing as children, children are more

fragile, and the rest of their lives could change dramatically from this moment in time.

Because the majority of Boko Haram’s targets are children under the age of eighteen,

Nigeria is accused of allowing child soldiers to work in very “hostile environments” (“US

Accuses Nigeria of Using Child Soldiers”). These dangerous environments can put children at

risk in terms of health and education. This issue could possibly ruin the upcoming generations of

Nigeria, as well as the current lives of Nigerian children today. Perhaps groups like the United

Nations could intervene and protect the future generations of Nigeria by education and support.

Dangerous organizations such as Boko Haram could be pushed out and the Nigerian children

would lead a healthier, happier, and safer life.

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Works Cited

Akinwotu, Emmanuel. “UN Brokers Deal to End Use of Children in Nigeria's Battle with Boko

Haram.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 20 Sept. 2017,

www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/sep/20/un-deal-end-use-of-children-civ

Lian-joint-task-force-nigeria-battle-with-boko-haram.

"AMISOM calls for end of use of child soldiers in Somalia." Xinhua News Agency, 22 Oct.

2017. Global Issues in Context,link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A510782658/GPS?u=

rale84535&sid=GPS&xid=542f07dd. Accessed 29 Nov. 2017.

Barr, Heather. “War Is Driving Girls Out of School.” Human Rights Watch, 27 Nov. 2017,

www.hrw.org/news/2017/11/27/war-driving-girls-out-school.

McVeigh, Tracy. “Nigeria Battles to Beat Polio and Boko Haram.” The Observer, Guardian

News and Media, 6 May 2017,www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/may/07/

nigeria-polio-vaccination-boko-haram.

“More than Half of Borno Schools Closed over Boko Haram.” News | Al Jazeera, 29

Sept. 2017,www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/borno-schools-closed-boko-haram

-170929045051929.html.

“Nigerian Army 'Kills' Large Number of Boko Haram Insurgents, Frees 9 Kids Held at Secret

Camp.” News24, 13 June 2017,www.news24.com/Africa/News/nigerian-army-kills-large

-number-of-boko-haram-insurgents-frees-9-kids-held-at-secret-camp-20170613.

“Nigeria's Boko Haram Conflict: Huge Rise in Child 'Human Bombs'.” BBC News, BBC, 22

Aug. 2017, www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41010993.

Obi, Felix Abrahams, and Ejemai Eboreime. “How Boko Haram Is Devastating Health Services
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in Northeast Nigeria.” Business Insider, 3 May 2017,

www.businessinsider.com/boko-haram-nigeria-health-services-2017-5.

“UNICEF: Boko Haram Use of Child Bombers Soars.” Nigeria News | Al Jazeera, 22

Aug. 2017,www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/unicef-boko-haram

-child-bombers-soars-170822160541719.html.

"U.S. Accuses Nigeria of Using Child Soldiers." Africa News Service, 29 June 2017. Global

Issues in Context,link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A497259363/GPS?u=

rale84535&sid=GPS&xid=851f0f02. Accessed 29 Nov. 2017.

Waller, Mary. “Africa: Boko Haram's Impact On Education In Nigeria.” The Borgen Project, 11

Apr. 2017, borgenproject.org/boko-harams-impact-on-education/.