The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has asked the Nigerian Government to provide intensive support for the 21 freed Chibok girls so as to safeguard their future.
It also called for increased funding to enable the agency cater for the increasing numbers of people, mostly women and girls, that are being rescued from Boko Haram captivity.
Country representative of the UN body, Gianfranco Rotigliano, made this appeal in a statement made available to newsmen in Maiduguri on Tuesday.
Rotigliano expressed UNICEF’s delight to see the girls back with their families, but added that the agency wants all the women and children held by Boko Haram to be freed.
He noted that “all of those who have been held by Boko Haram will face a long and difficult process to rebuild their lives after the indescribable trauma they have suffered” and therefore require proper attention by the government.
He said the Chibok girls were among “thousands of women and girls that UNICEF estimates have been held and subjected to violence by the group.”
“UNICEF has supported hundreds of women and girls who have already been released or escaped from Boko Haram,” Rotigliano’s statement read.
“The girls report they have been subjected to rape – frequently in the form of forced “marriages” – beatings, intimidation and starvation during their captivity. Many returned pregnant or with babies as a result of rape.
“When they do reach safety, girls who have been held by Boko Haram are often ill, malnourished, traumatized and exhausted; they are in need of medical attention and psychosocial support so they can begin to come to terms with their experiences and reintegrate with their families and communities,” he added.
The UNICEF chief also lamented the discrimination faced by the released Boko Haram captives, saying that “People are also often afraid the girls have been indoctrinated by Boko Haram and that they pose a threat to their communities.”
“The use by Boko Haram of children – mostly girls – as so called ‘suicide’ bombers has fuelled such fears. Children born as a result of the sexual violence are at even greater risk of rejection, abandonment and violence,” he said.
The statement pointed out that the since the beginning of the year, UNICEF and its partner, International Alert, have been providing psychosocial support for women and girls who have experienced sexual violence at the hands of Boko Haram.
“UNICEF and International Alert are also working with affected communities through a network of trained religious and community leaders to promote acceptance and to address negative perceptions that hamper the reintegration of women and girls who have suffered such violence.”
He revealed that “Funding from the Swedish International Development Agency and the UK Department for International Development has so far this year enabled UNICEF to provide a comprehensive programme of reintegration assistance to more than 750 women and girls subjected to Boko Haram-related sexual violence.”
Rotigliano, however, noted that the funding is not quite sufficient giving the large numbers of women and girls that are being rescued by the Nigerian Military who are also in dire need of support.