ICC Note: Boko Haram continues to carve a pathway of devastation into northeast Nigeria, northern Cameroon, and the Lake Chad region through horrific persecution. Some of the vilest evils for which the militant Islamist group is responsible involves their brutal treatment of women and children, in particular. The following report details how Boko Haram fighters keep young boys as house slaves and train them with weapons and explosives. They also keep young girls as sex slaves, subjecting them to repeated rape and physical abuse. Victim after victim can tell heart-wrenching stories about sexual abuse, forced conversion, and indoctrination, among countless other horrors.

By Moki Kindzeka/FM

Boko Haram may have abducted children and young women in Cameroon for sex exploitation and suicide bombing. Internally displaced persons were also vulnerable to human trafficking by militant groups.

4/12/16 Cameroon (AllAfrica) – Yazan Imra, 18, was abducted from the Nigeria-Cameroon border town of Gambarou and taken to one of the terrorists’ hideouts. For two years, Imra was sexually abused and is now a mother of a 16 month-old baby. She doesn’t know the father of her child.

Since the insurgency began in the early 2000, thousands of young girls and boys have been abducted by Boko Haram militants. Many have been forcefully recruited as suicide bombers, domestic workers and many as sex slaves. “Boys serve as domestic workers and also trained on the use of guns and explosives,” Imra told DW. “Girls we were sexually exploited and we also worked as cooks for the fighters,” she added.

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