Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The Nigerian Army has handed over 184 teenagers suspected to be Boko Haram members to the United Nations, in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.
Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Butatai, represented by the Theatre Commander Operation LAFIYA DOLE, Maj.-Gen. Nicholas Rogers said the handing over was in line with international standard and convention.
“Children being a vulnerable group attract special attention,” he declared at Maimalari Cantonment of the Nigerian Army venue OF the handing over.
He expressed hope that the children would be given “adequate medical car and support.”
He said the 184 children arrested from various locations within the North East states troubled by Boko Haram insurgency for nearly nine years.
The released suspects were made up of male and female children and teenagers. Representative of Borno State Government and Commissioner of Women Affairs, Hon. Fanta Baba Shehuri, and representative of the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Ibrahim Sise, with Gen. Rogers signed a document of hand over and transfer of the released suspects for rehabilitation and re-integration.