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Children in northeastern Nigeria in need of protection from violence: UN envoy

Xinhua, January 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Children in northeastern Nigeria were in desperate need of protection from relentless violence, a UN spokesman said on Friday.

Leila Zerrougui, special representative for children and armed conflict of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, expressed her concerns about sexual violence against girls, including forced marriages and rapes, after her visit to Nigeria to assess the conflict's impact on children, UN spokesperson Stephan Dujarric told a daily news briefing.

"Ms. Zerrougui said that throughout 2014 there has been a dramatic rise in violence, growing recruitment and use of children, sometimes very young, as well as countless abductions and attacks on schools," said Dujarric.

On Jan. 10, a suicide bomb attack struck a market in the capital of northeastern Nigeria's state of Borno, during which a 10-year-old girl was used to detonate a bomb, killing at least 20 people.

Last April, about 270 girls from Chibok community in northeastern Nigeria's Borno State were abducted. Extremists group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the act and threatened to sell the girls.

In November last year, leader of the Nigerian Boko Haram insurgents, Abubakar Shekau, said in a video that the over 200 abducted schoolgirls have been married to members of the group.

Nigeria is currently grappling with security challenges, including the insurgency of Boko Haram. Endite