Boko Haram Terrorism and Indoctrination of out-of-school Children: A Study of Children in the Suicide Bombing in Yobe State, Nigeria.

Abstract

This research paper examines how the activities of terrorist cells, especially those in the West African sub-region, initiate underage into their operation. The work looked at the nature of terrorism in Nigeria and how their network spread to various parts of the country. It is believed that most of the origin of terrorism was influenced by foreign ideology with a specific target of a common belief. This paper focused on the formation of the terrorist cell in Nigeria and how they succeeded by indoctrinating children into the mainstream of terrorism for various missions. The research discusses processes terrorists followed or applied to achieve their objectives. It should be noted that throughout the crisis, particularly in north-eastern Nigeria, there have been several cases of attacks by teenagers in various places with devastating effects on the society. It has been estimated that more than 43% of the attacks in Yobe state, which is the central focus of the research and its surroundings, have been attributed to suicide bombing attacks by either young girls or boys who were trained by the insurgents to attack their targets, with emphasis on the child abuse and radicalization, as well as how it affects the growth and development of youth in the society. Other aspects of consideration in the research include factors responsible for the successful enrolment and initiation of the underage into the organization. These factors include the poverty level of the society, materialism, ideological warfare, Islamism or secular radicalism, drug addiction, etc. A recent world report reveals that more than 20,000 people were killed and over two million displaced by the insurgency. Although the crisis has bedevilled almost 60% of the country, northeastern Nigeria was one of the most affected regions by this terrible terrorist act. The overall effects of this indoctrination and radicalization of the youth by these groups have been a tremendously increased rate of crime within the region, hunger and starvation, as well as general psychological trauma and fear of the unknown, which was brought by the consequences of the general insecurity.