UN, JTF Sign Pact to End Use of Children in N’East Conflict

By Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri 

The United Nations and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) on Friday signed an action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in the armed conflict in the North-east.

The CJTF is a youth vigilance group established by the government and people of Borno State at the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency to tackle the Boko Haram insurgents. 

The group, which is made up of volunteers, has been accused alongside the warring Boko Haram sect of recruiting children in the ongoing insurgency in the North-east.

In order to set the record straight, the group signed an action plan with the United Nations supervised by the Borno State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Usman Durkwa, at the Pinnacle Hotel, Maiduguri.

In a similar development, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, and UNICEF in Nigeria welcomed the signing of the action plan with the CJTF in Maiduguri, North-east Nigeria.

Details later…