Dear young friends, sure you are doing great today. I had a great weekend training parents and teachers on how to teach children and young people how to protect themselves. I think we had a great time.
Permit me to continue the discussion we began last week on tips on how to protect yourself from being recruited into terrorist groups. I will like begin today by saying that studies reveal that children, as young as five years old are recruited and radicalized. They recruit children of both male and female genders, low and highly, from developed and developing countries. Their recruitment of children also cuts across religious beliefs, Islam and Christianity.
In Nigeria today, Boko Haram is in the habit of recruiting and deploying children as suicide bombers and soldiers. Anthony Lake, head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has described Boko Haram use of children as suicide bombers and all of the categories identified above as ‘depraved act.’ Boko Haram uses children as young as eight years old to carry out suicide attacks.
What is the social status of the children being recruited by terrorists groups all over the world? The first are the children of the poor and uneducated, the second are orphan and abandoned children, the third are the children of the terrorists, the fourth are the children of rich and informed. Still fresh in our memory is the story of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was born with silver spoon in his mouth but was recruited and radicalized by AQAP.
The strategy for the recruitment of the children of the poor and the rich and educated are completely different. In most cases the children of the poor and uneducated are either captured without the consent of their parents or the children are released by the parents, after being deceived by the terrors groups on the promise of a better life.
The strategy for recruiting the children of the rich and the informed is to reach the children directly without the knowledge and the consent of their parents/guardian. The recruitment is largely done through the use of the internet, particularly, social media. They create children-friendly websites with cartoons, which are updated almost daily; they pose as children on the social media platforms to get the attention of children; they post short and attractive messages, which appeal to the naivety and emptiness of the children. It has been established that ISIS, for example has over 46,000 feeder twitter accounts, created to tweet their activities and retweet their messages until they begin to trend and be on the face of every user of the social media platforms.
It is important to note that the terrorist groups, earlier identified recruit children from all the territories of the world, both from developed and developing countries of the world. Still in the news is the story of the three British teenage girls, who are said to have left their parents in February to travel to Syria to joins ISIS. It has been reported that the three teenage have finally crossed to Syria and that many other British teenagers are on the waiting list to also join ISIS. On Wednesday Australian Jake Bilardi 18, identified by his ISIS name Abdullah al-Australi, was reported to have blown up himself in a suicide mission in Ramadi in Iraq. He was recruited when he was a child. According to the Australian authority, just last week two teenage Australians were arrested at Sidney airport, suspected to be travelling to join ISIS. CNN reports that according to CIA sources, there are over 2,000 westerners from different countries, who have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS. On February 21, 2015, CNN aired the story of Islam Yaken, who went from a private school in Cairo but left to join ISIS.
Wow! How time flies! Our space is far spent. I have been sharing with you the strategies being used to recruit children and young people into terrorist groups. I think I should stop here and continue next week. Please note that I am available on this platform to interact with you and answer your questions. Do have an INSPIRED week. Stay SMART!
Taiwo Akinlami is a Barrister & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, foremost Child Protection Specialist, Consultant to UNICEF, governments, and other leading national and international organisations on Child Protection, Independent Legal and Social Regulatory Expert on Child’s Rights and Responsibilities Issues, Legal Enlightenment & Development Enthusiast, Researcher, Social Empowerment Advocate, Author, Blogger and an accredited facilitator of the British Council School Leadership Program. Website: www.taiwoakinlami.com│Blog: www.taiwoakinlami.wordpress.com│Twitter: @taiwoakinlami
