Nigeria has been named among the five countries with the highest cases of child recruitment into armed groups, as the United Nations warns that the global crisis of children in conflict is deepening at an alarming rate.
The UN website on Thursday noted that this was disclosed In an exclusive interview with UN News ahead of the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers.
The UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Vanessa Frazier, said the recruitment and use of minors remains one of the gravest and most widespread violations recorded worldwide.
“The recruitment and use of children is still one of the most widespread and devastating violations we face. In 2024 alone, over 7,400 children were recruited or used by armed forces and armed groups — and those are only the verified cases,” she said.
According to the UN, the highest levels of violations are currently recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria and Myanmar. Emerging patterns are also raising alarm in Sudan, where children are reportedly targeted for roles ranging from border guards to active fighters.
Behind the statistics, Frazier stressed, are shattered childhoods.
“Each number in our report represents a child whose innocence has been interrupted,” she said.
Over the past 30 years, the UN mandate on children and armed conflict has facilitated the separation of more than 220,000 children from armed groups. The Special Representative’s office negotiates directly with combatants for the release of minors — a rare channel of engagement in war zones.
Once freed, UNICEF and partner organisations lead reintegration efforts, providing psychosocial care, access to education and community support. But reintegration is often complicated by stigma.
“Girls who return may be shunned by their communities, especially those who come back with children,” Frazier noted, pointing to the compounded trauma faced by female survivors.
In Nigeria, thousands of children have been affected by insurgent violence over the past decade, particularly in the country’s northeast, where abductions and forced recruitment by armed groups have left long-term scars on families and communities.
Drawing from field visits — including meetings with survivors of Boko Haram abductions — Frazier described the human toll in stark terms.
“You hear about a 13-year-old girl holding her baby, and you realise how deeply conflict steals childhood,” she said. “Those numbers in our reports are individuals — children who were supposed to have their whole future ahead of them.”
Global response efforts
The UN envoy emphasised that prevention must sit at the heart of global response efforts.
“Prevention is better than cure. Even in times of war, children must remain in school. When they are out of school, they become very vulnerable to recruitment, whether forced or not,” she said.
She also underscored the importance of accountability, citing prosecutions in national courts and at least three cases before the International Criminal Court involving the recruitment of children.
“One of the greatest tools of deterrence is justice and accountability,” she said. “When armed group leaders are prosecuted and sentenced, it sends a powerful message that this crime carries real consequences.”
Frazier, who previously served as Malta’s ambassador to the UN and sat on the Security Council, described children as “the epitome of innocence,” warning that lasting peace cannot be achieved if young people are left behind.
“The sustainability of peace depends on children’s right to take it forward,” she said. “When they return from conflict, they must have access to education and the chance to aspire — to become doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers. That can only be achieved through education.”
Through her campaign, Prove It Matters, children affected by war send handwritten messages to world leaders, folded into origami doves — a symbol of peace. One message, she recalled, read: ‘I still have hope for a peaceful world. Never again a girl being a wife of a guerrilla fighter. Never again being part of armed groups. Let’s save childhoods and families too.’
For Frazier, that plea captures the stakes.
“Children should never be treated as collateral of war,” she said. “Protecting them is not optional — it is the foundation of a sustainable and peaceful future.”
The PUNCH