by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - A generation of children in Niger in the Sahel region of Africa is growing up surrounded and targeted by the murder, violence, and destruction inflicted on them by Islamic Jihadists in the Sahel region of Africa, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports, quoting a newly released statement from Amnesty International.
While Islamic terrorists have murdered many tens of thousands of people across Africa, Amnesty International has reported that the plight of children in Niger’s Tillabéri region has worsened considerably in the last two years, ICC said.
In a new report titled: “I Have Nothing Left Except Myself: The Worsening Impact on Children of Conflict in the Tillabéri Region of Niger,” Amnesty says: “Since the start of 2021, the conflict in Niger’s western Tillabéri region, which borders Mali and Burkina Faso, has worsened significantly. Children have been killed, recruited to participate in hostilities, deprived of the opportunity to go to school, and forcibly displaced,” Amnesty states in the report.
“In Niger’s Tillabéri region, an entire generation is growing up surrounded by death and destruction. Armed groups have repeatedly attacked schools and food reserves and are targeting children for recruitment,” Matt Wells, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Deputy Director, said in a statement. “The Nigerien government and its international partners must urgently take action to monitor and prevent further abuses and protect the basic rights of all those affected by this deadly conflict – especially children,” Wells said.
ICC has called for prayer for those affected by the crisis in Niger: “Please pray for all those persecuted, that God’s love would comfort and strengthen them in their trials, and that He will use his church to reach all who are in need,” ICC requested in its report. “Please also pray for those who persecute the church that they will experience the love of God, accept it, and be granted true repentance.”