US Child-Soldier Listing Threatens Nigeria’s Fight Against Armed Terrorist Groups 

By Onibiyo Segun 

(ABUJA) – Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) is gaining ground against rival Boko Haram factions while exploiting children for intelligence and logistics, an insurgency historian has warned, as a new US child-soldier designation threatens restrictions on military assistance Nigeria needs to fight the terrorists abducting and abusing those children. 

Analysts say Washington had correctly identified the groups exploiting children but risked weakening Nigeria’s response by targeting military assistance to the country. 

“Washington is correct on facts but wrong on target,” Dr. Murtala Ahmed Rufai of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, said. Warning that restricting Nigeria’s military training and weapons sales from October 1 could hinder child rescues. 

The US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, published October 11, covers April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026. It identifies Boko Haram and ISWAP as groups recruiting, abducting and using children in armed conflict. 

Children Are Victims of Terrorist Recruitment 

The report says Boko Haram and ISWAP exploit children as young as 12 as spies, porters and combatants, forcing some into suicide bombings, sexual abuse and drug use. 

TruthNigeria previously reported the abduction of 40 schoolchildren, including children under five, from Mussa in Borno State. Subsequent reporting documented women and children captured during the violence around Ngoshe. 

Rufai said the distinction between children abducted by terrorists and children recruited by Nigerian state forces was crucial to interpreting the designation. The abduction of a child does not establish that the child was subsequently deployed as a combatant, but the State Department’s findings describe how armed groups exploit children in multiple operational roles. 

ISWAP Gains as Boko Haram’s JAS Faction Weakens 

An analyst identified ISWAP as Nigeria’s strongest insurgent organization in terms of its ability to sustain operations and exercise control over resources and territory. 

“ISWAP controls taxation, controls Lake Chad islands, controls supply lines from Niger Republic, and has the capacity to attack military positions,” Rufai said, attributing the group’s growing influence to its governance structure. 

Rufai ranked Boko Haram’s JAS faction second, saying it remains brutal but has lost territory and leaders to competition with ISWAP. He warned that JAS may increasingly exploit children as fighters decline, despite territorial losses. 

Rufai said weakened factions may abduct children for intelligence or suicide missions, while stronger groups exploit them systematically.  

Rufai distinguished Northwest criminal networks linked to Turji, Kachalla Alti and Halilu Buzu from ideological insurgencies. Nigerian media typically refer to these kingpin criminals as “bandits.” Rufai described Ansaru’s alleged Oriire abduction as hostage leverage, and said Lakurawa’s Kebbi activities involve displacement, taxation, arson and looting. He stressed the need for group-specific evidence. 

• What Nigeria Could Lose 

Another analyst said the CSPA designation could affect military education and training, foreign military financing, excess defense articles and licenses for direct commercial sales of military equipment. 

“Exactly the capabilities needed to fight the groups Washington says use children,” Colonel Mudi Attaihiru (RTD) told TruthNigeria in a chat. 

“The restrictions are not an automatic termination of every US arms sale or defense program. Their impact depends on applicable legal provisions, exceptions and whether President Donald Trump grants a waiver,” Attaihiru said.  

Attaihiru argued that the timing was particularly sensitive because the two countries had continued to expand security cooperation. TruthNigeria reported the arrival of a US military team in February and a US delivery of thousands of bombs to the Nigerian military in September. 

“You cannot deliver bombs and then restrict training to use them because of  a child soldier list,” Attaihiru said, urging the Trump Defense Department to consider a waiver. 

Nigeria Must Demonstrate Accountability 

Nigeria has faced CSPA listings before. The Stimson Center’s implementation tracker records listings during 2015–2018 and again in 2020–2021, when presidential waivers allowed specified US military assistance and arms sales to continue. 

Earlier State Department reports also scrutinized child recruitment by the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), a community-based force that supported operations against Boko Haram. A UN-backed action plan sought to end recruitment and separate children from the group. 

Attaihiru said the Nigerian military must demonstrate that it screens personnel and supported groups, separates children from armed operations and refers recovered children to civilian protection services. 

“Recovered children from Ngoshe and Mussa must be treated as victims, not perpetrators,” Attaihiru said, urging Defense Headquarters to demonstrate safeguards and for Washington to clarify restrictions, while UNICEF assesses rehabilitation and reintegration measures. 

The Test Is Whether Children Become Safer 

“ISWAP is gaining strength as rival factions exploit children, warning that reduced US assistance could weaken Nigeria’s response. He urged accountability, child protection and investigations into credible recruitment allegations”, Rufai posits. 

He went on to say, “Washington must explain how its restrictions would work in practice and whether a waiver can preserve essential cooperation while requiring measurable progress on child protection.” 

If ISWAP and other armed groups are exploiting children to sustain their wars, weakening the capacity to confront them could leave those children in greater danger. The real test for Abuja and Washington is whether they can hold perpetrators accountable, rescue the victims and prevent another generation of Nigerian children from becoming weapons in a war they never chose. 

Onibiyo Segun reports on terrorism and conflict for TruthNigeria. 

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