Nigeria Releases 58 Women, Children in Peace Gesture....
 | Naharnet Newsdesk May 31, 2013 Nigeria's military said Friday it had released 58 women and children held in connection with the Islamist insurgency in the country's northeast under a peace gesture announced 10 days ago. The youngest of the children released in Borno state told journalists at a ceremony announcing the move that he was nine years old. Twenty women and children were released in Borno, while 38 others in neighboring Yobe state. |
In Yobe, Lieutenant Eli Lazarus announced the release of 17 women and 21 children. "We hope the release will serve the purpose for which it was intended," he told reporters.
Nigeria has defended the detention of children in connection with the insurgency, saying those held were directly involved in ways such as acting as lookouts and running errands. Its military has come under heavy criticism in its fight against Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, including allegations of arbitrary arrests, unlawful detentions and extra-judicial killings.
The military launched a sweeping offensive in the northeast on May 15 in a bid to end the four-year-old insurgency by Boko Haram.
It announced on May 21 it would release women and children held in connection with the insurgency as part of a peace gesture.
The move came after Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed in a recent video that the group was holding women and children hostage in retaliation for wives and children of its members detained by the military.
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