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672 Nigerian children lost to 2017 bombings —Report (Punch)

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In this photo taken on September 15, 2016 women and children queue to enter one of the Unicef nutrition clinics at the Muna makeshift camp which houses more than 16,000 IDPs (internaly displaced people) on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Borno State, northeastern Nigeria. Aid agencies have long warned about the risk of food shortages in northeast Nigeria because of the conflict, which has killed at least 20,000 since 2009 and left more than 2.6 million homeless. In July, the United Nations said nearly 250,000 children under five could suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year in Borno state alone and one in five -- some 50,000 -- could die. / AFP PHOTO / STEFAN HEUNIS

No fewer than 672 children were killed or maimed in Nigeria during bomb explosions in 2017, particularly by the Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East region of the country.

This figure was contained in a report released by a non-governmental organisation, Save the Children, noting that Nigeria was the fourth deadliest country with child casualties resulting from explosions, after Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria.

The 24-page report talks about the impact of explosive weapons on children in conflict.

The organisation recommended in its report that countries should ensure cross-government protection of civilians which includes “up-to-date calibrations of battle damage estimates to take account of the unique vulnerabilities of children as well as child-specific measures to prevent harm.” Read more

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