From: Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Global Amnesty Watch, a pro-human rights and humanitarian group, has faulted the Unites States claim of Civilian JTF using child fighters in the fight against Boko Haram in the northeast.
The group’s Country Director, Hellen Adesola, told newsmen at a press briefing in Maiduguri, on Tuesday, that the allegation contained in the United States 2017 Trafficking in Persons Reports claiming CJTF in Borno recruited children to fight in the counter-insurgency operation was untrue.
Civilian JTF, a volunteer group, came into being in August 2013, as a force against the rising killing and violence by Boko Haram terrorists in Maiduguri.
“An Investigation by the Global Amnesty Watch found that the United States 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report that accused the Civilian JTF of recruiting children in the fight against Boko Haram is false,” Adesola maintained.
She said the group conducted investigation using various method including analysis of record of members of CJTF, activities, media reports among others. She said the group found out that most members of CJTF were above 18 years as at 2013 when they voluntarily joined the group. She said the record of membership of the group also shown that some of the members are either secondary school leaver, diploma or degree holders, wondering how the US came with her claim.
“A review of media reports indicated that this is not the first time that the Civilian JTF has been accused of recruiting child fighters in their war against Boko Haram. A pattern was however established that showed that each time such reports are issued and Civil Society Organisations question them, the authors were usually unable to defend their claims and in many instances simply disappear such that nothing is heard from their claim again,” she said. She described the allegation as “an outright falsehood and lies that mark a descent to be unaccaeptably low.”