Sahara Reporters
A picture of a 10-year-old boy in Katsina State, identified as Bello Abdulkadir Ado, holding a gun as a security personnel to combat the ravaging bandits has surfaced on the social media.
The photograph has, however, attracted mixed reactions from Nigerians.
According to reports, Ado is a member of a local vigilante group in the Safana Local Government Area of the state.
A member of the Nigerian Police Force was sighted in the picture watching the boy with amusement from behind.
The picture which was shared on social media generated a lot of mixed reactions as many were tagging it as child abuse.
Meanwhile, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC), also known as the child soldier treaty, had already prohibited the act.
The treaty already prohibits the conscription into the military of children under the age of 18. It also stated that military recruits should not be younger than 16.
It also stipulates that “member states prevent recruits aged 16 or 17 from taking a direct part in hostilities. The treaty also forbids non-state armed groups from recruiting anyone under the age of 18 for any purpose.”
This story first appeared in Sahara Reporters
