Almost 900 children held by a pro-government force fighting the Boko Haram armed group in northeastern Nigeria have been freed, according to the United Nations.
The 894 children, including 106 girls, had been in the ranks of the government-backed Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), a local group which supports regular soldiers battling Boko Haram.
At a ceremony in the northeastern town of Maiduguri, they were released on Friday as part of the CJTF’s “commitment to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children”, the UN children’s agency (UNICEF) said.
“Children of north-east Nigeria have borne the brunt of this conflict,” said Mohamed Fall, UNICEF chief in Nigeria.
“They have been used by armed groups in combatant and non-combatant roles and witnessed death, killing and violence.”
The CJTF is a group formed in 2013 to protect communities from attack, but it has also recruited hundreds of children.
In 2017, it signed a promise to stop recruiting child soldiers and release the ones they hold.
