In a sturdy iron cage, a monkey spins from the bars. Outside, a few metres from the cage, a boy twirls in the dust. Unlike the ape, he enjoys the wilderness of freedom. There, in the scenic ambience of a mobile circus touring Southern Kaduna, his ill-bred face, full African eyes are so dark, so quiet and remote, having seen too many empty dawns pass him by. His name is Aliyu and if he could, he would plead an immediate change in his fate and backtrack to those mornings when he sprang from his mat at the sting of his mother’s sharp pat on his butt. Aliyu misses the rations of steaming chili sauce and corn flour served by his mother every night. But most especially, he misses his dad. The latter, among other things, was the greatest hero he ever had.
For a boy-child, Aliyu betrays a temperament befitting a man. He has probably made peace with his inner turmoil or rather, has grown impermeable to such human weaknesses, like pain. Nonetheless, the eight-year old native of Jema’a, Kaduna State, parades a photographic memory that recounts his parents’ gruesome death in the wake of the sectarian crisis that pitted the Berom and Jasawa tribes of Jos, Plateau State State against each other in the twilight of 2008.
“My mother’s sister (his current guardian) came to pick me up from the police station the morning after my parents were killed,” he said. At his parents’ death, Aliyu stopped schooling. His aunt apprenticed him to a weaver but according to the 12-year old, he frustrated his boss to the point that the latter requested that he be removed from his apprenticeship.
“I don’t want to learn a vocation. I want to be a General (soldier). I do not want to learn any trade but my aunty will not listen to me,” lamented Aliyu.
Then he fell silent and stared ardently into the distance. It was a macabre silence replete with spasms of blood-curdling angst, misery and discontent, four-years-old. Hard as it was to picture the extent of bitterness devastating his heart, a careful glance at his face indicated a boy utterly torn apart. It seemed he wasn’t there but he was; even as the gruesomeness crackled in his grief and dissolved into the painful tribute of a tear. Today, he does nothing but loiter about town in the company of his childhood friends.
Unlike Aliyu, Lemora Mohammed’s pain is more recent and it transcends the passing tribute of a tear. Simply put, crying would never be enough to express the brutal massacre of her parents, two sisters, an 18-month-old cousin and a crippled aunt. Mohammed, who was a victim of a more recent sectarian crisis in Jos, had her world viciously torn apart when the rampaging hordes of Jos attacked their home in Angwan Rogo, in the wee hours of a Saturday night.
“We were just settling in to sleep after a late supper. Suddenly, we heard people running and screaming in agony. A neighbour rushed to our door and banged on it screaming: ‘They are here! They are here! Run while you could.’ She never made it past our door.” And so did Mohammed’s family. Save her and her younger brother, Jabir, whom she claimed had gone out to ease himself, “nobody else made it.”
However, Mahmud, a 14-year-old from Watam, in Riyom local government area, survived with serious injuries after witnessing the execution of several of his playmates as they played football on a pitch in his neighbourhood. One minute, he was flaunting soccer skills to the applause of his playmates and the next he was running for his dear life as rampaging youths slaughtered his friends in cold blood and gave pursuit after him. “I ran into a bush and jumped into a dry well…I didn’t leave the well until the following morning. I had never experienced such wickedness in my life; while they pursued me like bushmeat, I urinated on myself even as I ran. In the well, I defecated in my pants and at some point, I got too scared that the stench of my faeces would lead them to me…By the time I got to the field the following morning, the sand on our pitch had congealed with blood. There was too much blood and pieces of flesh everywhere,” recounted the 14-year old.
Few blocks from the pitch, Mariama Kali, 16, listened helplessly from her refuge inside an uncompleted building adjacent to her house as her family and two other families were hacked to death. “I couldn’t peep because I was too scared of being found out. If they had caught me, I wouldn’t be alive right now,” said Kali.
Such experiences leave emotional and psychological scars that oftentimes last a lifetime. Even when the conflict is over or the children have reached safety, many of them remain filled with fear, bottled up rage and guilt, stated Muhammadu Alli, a clinical psychiatrist.
Alli could not be too far from the truth. For instance, Margaret Uduma, 61, an ex-Biafran native, stated that although she survived the Nigerian civil war, she was convinced for a long while that she was alone in the world. Indeed, that would seem likely since she lost her parents and four brothers to the crisis at a very young age.
She developed great hatred for people of a particular extraction in the country and blamed them for the murder of her family because the federal soldiers who invaded their house in Enugu were from that part. Thus for a long while, she lived with venom in her heart. She still does. “You talk of forgiveness… forgiveness. If it happened to you, will you forgive? I can’t. I feel only hate,” said Uduma.
Eleven-year-old Ibrahim revealed that he has recurrent nightmares in which the ghosts of his two sisters who were raped and murdered in the heat of the Jos crisis visit him and urge him to come to the ‘other side’ (heaven).
Ibrahim escaped with a neighbouring family when rampaging youths attacked his neighbourhood. Fortunately for him, he was watching musicals with his best friend at a gift shop. His friend’s mother had asked them to man the shop while she dashed home to prepare lunch for the family. His friend’s mother never came back. She was butchered on her way. Luckily, her husband escaped with their only daughter to rescue shop. “When I asked them about my family, they told me that my parents asked me to live with them, that they would join us very soon”.
When civilian populations and infrastructure are targeted during conflict, traditional family and community networks which would normally give comfort and emotional support to children in crisis are also fragmented and destroyed. Parents in the tide of refugees pushed into camps are stripped of their capacity to shelter and protect their children. In such crisis situation, young women and mothers without protection are frequently raped or forced to trade sex for food, while fathers accustomed to farming and supporting their families stand in line for hand-outs, humiliated and powerless to help themselves or their children.
The impact of such traumatic experience, especially on children, is usually immeasurable. The sheer magnitude of psycho-social distress among children of different ethnic backgrounds rules out the possibility of uniform textbook approaches. Children on the receiving end in such crises situations hardly survive the onslaught, according to Ibukun Faraayola, 44, a consultant clinical psychiatrist.
“Every day, the world descends into a desolate moral vacuum. This is a space devoid of the most basic human values; a space in which children are slaughtered, raped and maimed; a space in which children are exploited as soldiers and orphaned; a space in which children are starved and exposed to extreme brutality,” he said.
Faraayola noted that in extreme situations, most kids are forced to commit atrocities even against their own friends and families as a way of toughening them up and severing whatever ties they have with their loved ones and community at large. “This often rid them of humaneness. I hope things never get as bad as that,” he said.
Children in flight
Across the country, many children have been forced to flee to neighbouring states as refugees. Many of them, according to Idiat Bello, a social worker, are in need of special attention. That is because at a crucial and vulnerable time in their lives, they are brutally uprooted from their comfort zones and exposed to extreme danger and brutality, she said.
However, while child refugees benefit from the specific attention of a number of international NGOs, those who are internally displaced receive less protection even though they tend to be at greater risk.
In the chaos of full blown war and other types of armed violence, many children are parted from their parents or guardians. Among the most severe problems which all children face during armed conflicts is the heightened risk of being orphaned and raped. Others are forced into sexual slavery or prostitution and other forms of abuse.
These crimes are often direct consequences of the general societal breakdown during armed conflicts. Children who are displaced but remain in their own countries face perilous circumstances. They are often worse off than refugees, since they may lack access to protection and assistance. There are an increasing number of situations where families and communities are chronically displaced due to localised, continued armed conflict. Surveys have shown that the death rate among internally displaced persons has been as much as 60 per cent higher than the death rate of persons within the same country who are not displaced.
Even when internally displaced families are housed with relatives or friends, they may not be secure, eventually facing resentment from their hosts because of the limited resources to be shared. Another acute problem for internally displaced children is access to health and education services. In contravention of humanitarian law, the access of internally displaced persons to humanitarian assistance is often impeded. Flight can put them beyond the reach of existing Government or NGO programmes. Even if schools exist, the children may not be able to enroll because they lack proper documentation, are not considered residents of the area or are unable to pay school fees. Feelings of exclusion, as well as the struggle for survival and protection, may lead children to join parties to the conflict or to become street children.
Children in camps
In times of conflicts, children’s traditional systems of social protection come under severe strain or break down completely and there are often high levels of violence, alcohol and substance abuse, family quarrels and sexual assault.
Adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable and even the youngest children can be affected when they witness an attack on a mother or a sister.
One important aspect of relief that particularly affects women and children is the distribution of resources such as food, water, firewood and plastic sheeting. Control of these resources represents power. Men are usually in charge of distribution and often abuse their power by demanding bribes or sexual favours. This puts adolescent girls and women at risk, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The UNHCR alleged that the first days and weeks of a mass displacement of people usually result in high mortality rates for children. Among displaced children, measles, malaria and malnutrition account for 60 to 80 per cent of reported deaths.
Factors contributing to high mortality include overcrowding and lack of food and clean water, along with poor sanitation and lack of shelter. Pregnant and lactating women require particular attention, as do displaced children living with disabilities. Children coming from armed conflict are likely to have injuries that require special medical attention. In these circumstances, only a multi-sector approach to health and nutrition can protect young children. Camp environments are often highly militarised. In some instances, children have been taken, either forcibly or fraudulently, from camps to a third country for “political education” or military training.
Child health under attack
Thousands of children die each year as a result of armed violence – from knives, bullets, bombs and landmines. But many more die from the indirect consequences of warfare as a result of the disruption in food supplies, for example and the destruction of health services, water systems and sanitation. In poor regions where children are already vulnerable to malnutrition and disease, the onset of armed conflict can increase death rates – with those under five years at particular risk.
But beyond the physical dangers, children may also suffer lasting psychological damage as a result of the loss of their families. Children and adolescents also have very different capacities, and the lines between them are often blurred. In a child’s early years, the focus is on survival, with special attention needed in health, nutrition and protection. Research shows, however, that cognitive development is equally important.
The ways in which children respond to the stress of armed conflict also depend on their particular circumstances. These in turn are affected by such factors as age, sex, personality type, personal and family history, and cultural background.
Moreover, armed conflict often pushes children into roles beyond their capacity. It can also prolong certain transitions for young people. Because children are agents of their own protection, and appropriate coping mechanisms require specific cognitive competencies, a key priority is supporting children’s cognitive development through various life stages.
The different ways in which armed conflict may have already shaped children’s lives can expose them to additional risks. Children can be especially vulnerable if they are living with a disability, with HIV or on the street, or if they lack access to school or health care.
Similarly, separation from family, the experience of gender-based violence, internal displacement or refugee status, and current or former association with the armed forces or other armed groups can heighten the risk of further violations. A child’s reaction depends on the accumulation of risks, and also on her or his coping skills, available sources of support and other resources.
Children are also affected by other distressing experiences. Armed conflict splinters communities and breaks down trust among people – undermining the very foundation of children’s lives. Different children will respond in different ways to such distressing experiences. Most will recover fairly quickly but a few may suffer permanent damage.
The Almajiri factor
The northern almajiris have also been found to be easily instigated and used as perpetrators of armed violence in the region. One young man sent by his family from neighbouring Niger told the American Cable News Network (CNN) then how the schools used him and other children as foot soldiers in religious clashes. Fearing for his life, he spoke on condition of anonymity, telling how he lost his arm in the 2000 in religious violence that killed about 1,000 people in the northern city of Kaduna.
Tsangaya schools or almajirici as they are popularly known in the North, consequently were identified as breeding grounds for political thugs. Investigations revealed that the almajiris are exposed to city life with all the attendant corruption that comes with it at very impressionable ages. Left with no parental control or adequate social guidance, they turn vagabond with very real likelihood of drifting into a life of crime. Unfortunately, they are not equipped to cope with the pressures of city life. They hardly wish to be where they belong and they never fit in the city where they find themselves.
The Kano initiative
Asides the Federal Government-sponsored Almajiri Education Programme (AEP), which seeks to accord northern almajiri kids opportunities at a well-rounded education process, Governor Rabiu Kwakwanso of Kano State has done a lot to improve the lot of the kids.
Currently, Kano runs four Almajiri schools and the schools among other benefits seek to eradicate illiteracy and begging along the state’s major roads. The state government is playing a major role in the almajiri school system by providing the teachers and maintaining the schools and the good thing about the scheme, according to most residents, is that the schools have practically thrown their doors open to almajiris from neighbouring states.
And as part of its bid to improve the lot of its youths, the state government has provided vehicles for all the institutions in Kano for the inspection of primary and secondary schools and tertiary institutions. Governor Kwakwanso’s administration also foots examination fees for every child sitting for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO) School leaving examinations. So far, the incumbent administration has allocated over N35 billion to primary and secondary education alone in the state. The initiative is geared towards furnishing the pupils with opportunity to enjoy quality education and at the same time shield them from becoming easy targets for criminal masterminds seeking to use them as canon-fodder for fomenting armed violence.
However, the state government has a more comprehensive policy in the pipeline for the street kids. The State Commissioner for Information, Prof. Faruk Jibrin, said a report has been submitted to Governor Kwankwaso. He said the state would implement it by rehabilitating the Almajiris.
A call to action
Gladys Mobolade, coordinator of the Child Hope Nigeria Network (CHNN), suggested that an emergency assistance in periods of armed conflicts should always seek to specifically address the health needs of children. Emergency health teams should always include pediatric care and ensure access to reproductive healthcare for adolescents. She emphasized the building of community resources – helping close family members as well as school teachers and other community workers to provide children with the long term support they need.
However, in the long run, UNICEF suggested that local and international NGOs, the government and affected communities must pool concerted effort to prevent the outbreak of armed violence by addressing the socio-economic roots of conflicts and guarding against the shipment of arms and ammunition into the conflict zones.
In the short run, Farayoola said that conscious efforts must be made to protect child victims of armed violence. According to him, the most effective and sustainable approach is to mobilise the existing social care system. “This may, for example, involve mobilising a refugee community to support suitable foster families for unaccompanied children. Through training and raising the awareness of central care-givers including parents, teachers and community and health workers, a diversity of programmes can enhance the community’s ability to provide care for its children and vulnerable groups.
“Some organisations, for example, put a great deal of emphasis on trauma therapy in residential treatment centres. Exploring a child’s previous experience with violence and the meaning that it holds in her or his life is important to the process of healing and recovery. However, such an exploration should take place in a stable, supportive environment, by care-givers who have solid and continuing relationships with the child. In-depth clinical interviews intended to awaken the memories and feelings associated with a child’s worst moments risk leaving the child in more severe pain and agitation than before,” said Farayoola.
The most urgent wish made by the affected youth, however, is to be free to grow into adulthood safe from violence of any kind. Many of them would love to grow in communities that guarantee their right to attend school, to play and compete with each other, and learn the skills necessary for future jobs. The role of the community is paramount. In their recommendations, children and young people emphasize the importance of looking for solutions through dialogue with parents and local elders. Families and communities are seen as best equipped to respond to children’s educational, health and psychosocial needs, and to foster peace and tolerance.
Most of the recommendations recognise that the state bears principal responsibility for protecting and caring for children, especially those who are abused and exploited. But youth led organisations also pressed their case for change in their communities, noting the obligation of governments to help foster changes through better implementation and monitoring of policies already in place. Young people ask for stronger legislation and better enforcement of the rule of law, especially in rural areas. They see clear links between security and peace building, peace education, and constructive dialogue between youth and authorities. In their responses, they emphasize preventive measures that foster peace and tolerance within their communities. They couldn’t possibly be asking for too much. Could they?
