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Reuters: Nigerian Military Slaughtered Children in Campaign Against Boko Haram

HeadlineDec 15, 2022

In Nigeria, dozens of eyewitnesses say they saw soldiers in the Nigerian Army massacring children in its 13-year war against Boko Haram insurgents, with estimates putting the number of dead in the thousands. An investigation by Reuters found Nigerian Army commanders repeatedly ordered soldiers and armed guards to “delete” children, because they were assumed to be collaborating with militants in Boko Haram or its Islamic State offshoot. This is a soldier interviewed by Reuters. His face has been obscured and his voice replaced to protect his identity.

Soldier: “Yes, at times, when we come into a place and we find children and adults, we kill them all, shoot them all. We don’t differentiate and say, 'This is a child, and this is an adult,' because they’re all together. At times, if you kill the adult, the child will become a problem.”

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