Boko Haram militants use kids as human bombs: UN

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein has expressed concern over the acts of terror committed by Nigeria-based Takfiri Boko Haram militants, saying the terrorists are using children as “human bombs.”

“The group has also repeatedly used young children as human bombs, including a case of a 14-year-old girl carrying a baby on her back who detonated a bomb in a marketplace,” Zeid told a session of the UN Human Rights Council in the Swiss city of Geneva on Wednesday.

The official said that his knowledge was based on reports showing Boko Haram is using children as “expendable cannon fodder” in their attacks.

He further accused the Takfiri terrorists of abducting both children and adults on a massive scale and subjecting women and girls to slavery, forced labor and sexual violence.

Meanwhile, the council denounced “the heinous terrorist activities of Boko Haram” and urged “drying up all possible sources of financing” for the Takfiri group.

The Takfiri militants have claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting attacks and bombings in various parts of the country since the beginning of their militancy in 2009, which has so far left over 13,000 people dead and displaced 1.5 million.

Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram

Nigeria’s President-elect Mohammadu Buhari (1st, R) and his deputy Yemi Osinbajo pose after receiving their certificates of return in the capital city of Abuja, April 1, 2015. (© AFP)

Nigeria’s President-elect Mohammadu Buhari has pledged to spare no effort to step up the fight against terror perpetrated by Boko Haram militants.

“I assure you that Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will and commitment to rid this nation of terror and bring back peace,” Buhari said in his acceptance speech on Wednesday after his victory in Nigeria’s recent presidential poll.

The 72-year-old former military ruler from the All Progressives Congress (APC) Party also vowed to end corruption in the most populous nation of Africa.

Nigerians turned out en masse to vote in the presidential election over the weekend. Buhari won 53.95 percent of the total valid ballots cast compared to 39.2 percent for outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan, according to figures released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).