OpenDoors USA | Aug. 12, 2019
On June 17, two girls and one boy walked into a tea hall in northern Nigeria. They were wearing suicide vests. When the vests were detonated, at least 30 people died in the explosion. What would make three children do such a horrible thing? These children were abducted by Boko Haram and forced to become human weapons in the evilest way imaginable. It’s an unthinkable terrorist tactic and it’s not a rare story.
A shocking statistic
The UN recently stated that since 2009, an estimated 8,000 children have been abducted by Boko Haram. And according to a UNICEF report, at least 117 of these children have been used as suicide bombers since 2017—and more than 80 percent of them are girls.
I can barely allow my mind to picture the moments before the explosion when Boko Haram militants slipped the vests onto these dear children and forced them to walk into the crowded tea hall before they pushed the button to end their lives—and the lives of so many others.
It’s so challenging to think about these things. Especially as a parent. But it’s important to know they are happening.