1.4 MILLION CHILDREN FORCED TO FLEE CONFLICT IN NIGERIA

Dakar, 5 Dzulhijjah 1436/19 September 2015 (MINA) –  Over 1.4 million children in Nigeria and neighboring countries have been forced to flee their homes due to Boko Haram attacks, UNICEF said in a statement on Friday.

UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa said that “each of these children running for their lives is a childhood cut short,”,Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“It’s truly alarming to see that children and women continue to be killed, abducted and used to carry bombs,” Fontaine added.

Boko Haram, which first emerged in the early 2000s, became fanatically violent in 2009.

The militant group had largely confined its attacks to northeastern Nigeria. Recent months, however, have seen the group stage several deadly operations in neighboring states that have left scores dead.

This has forced residents, including women and children, to flee their homes in search of a safer place. Most of them go to UN camps. (T/P010/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)