Presidential Adviser on Policy Communication Daniel Bwala has said Boko Haram often abducts children to replenish its ranks after suffering losses during military operations.
According to a Punch report published on July 22, 2026, Bwala made the remarks during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today. He said the insurgent group raids villages, abducts children, and takes them into the bush, where they are indoctrinated and trained as fighters.
“When Boko Haram starts to lose their members, they go to villages and carry children and take them to the bush and recruit them; these are the people you recruited against their will,” Bwala said.
He added that some of the abducted children later escape from insurgent camps and surrender to Nigerian authorities, claiming to have repented. According to him, this creates a complex challenge for security agencies tasked with determining how to rehabilitate and reintegrate them.
Bwala said the government’s approach to handling such cases is guided by international humanitarian principles and the relevant United Nations conventions governing armed conflict.
