The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has condemned the death of three children in Borno State who were killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the Mblu Bridge in Ngala Council of the state.
The IED was reportedly used during a counter-insurgency operation by troops in border areas bordering Cameroon.
According to UNICEF’s representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, “it’s yet another heartbreaking reminder that children remain direct and indirect targets of the protracted violence devastating north-east Nigeria.”
He stated that youngsters in the north-east region have continued to face repeated abuses of their human rights as a result of the 12-year insurgency.
Hawkins went on to say that such weapons kill or hurt more than half of those killed or injured by landmines and other explosive remnants of war around the world, and urged security personnel to keep such weapons under control.