The case of missing children in Borno State has sparked public outcry, following a disturbing video of a young boy confessing to undergoing military training in a forest alongside dozens of other children.

Some residents who spoke with The PUNCH on Sunday recounted the agony of their missing loved ones and expressed the fear that the rise in child disappearance cases in the state may be linked to insurgent recruitment efforts.

The development comes as the #BringBackOurGirls movement renewed calls for the Nigerian government to release the findings of the fact-finding committee on the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction.

With 78 girls still unaccounted for more than a decade later, the group urged transparency and accountability in the search for those still missing.

A video of a boy, around 10 years old, confessing to undergoing arms training along with approximately 30 other yet-to-be-identified children in a forest near Ajiri in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State, went viral on social media at the weekend.

The video, posted by Zagazola Makama on X and reportedly recorded on January 22, 2025, captured the boy demonstrating his knowledge of handling firearms.

He confessed that he and other children of similar age were receiving military drills deep inside the forest.

“They are training us on weapons handling. Ali Shehu, Umar, Alhaji, and Malam Oro are the ones training us. We are at least 20 to 30. We are all young boys; some are bigger than me, while I am older than some of them,” the boy stated.

To support his claims, the child was handed an AK-47 rifle, which he expertly stripped and reassembled with near-perfect precision.

He also unloaded and reloaded a magazine, displaying an alarming level of proficiency in handling the weapon.

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Speaking with The PUNCH on Sunday, some of the residents lamented the increasing rate of missing children in the state, an occurrence they alleged might be connected with the trending video.

One of the residents and a mother of two in Mafa, a location close to the Ajiri forest allegedly said to be the camping area for the children, Aisha Ali, confirmed the disappearance of her six-year-old child for over three years without trace.

“Around February 2022, my last born, Mustapha went missing. At the time, he was just six years old. It was during the late evening. All of a sudden, his whereabouts could not be traced, the last thing I remembered was seeing him eating while I was going to a friend’s place around 3 pm.”

She added, “Upon my return, I learnt he stepped out. We searched and searched. Just like a joke, we could not find him again. In fact, we just concluded he is dead because his whereabouts remain a mystery we can’t explain.”

Another resident in Maiduguri, the state capital, Muhammad Mamman, expressed concern as he narrated a recent experience.

“Around early last year, my brother lost his child, not that the baby girl died. She was just four years or so at the time. She just went missing. We immediately announced on the radio, yet she was nowhere to be found to date. Either dead or alive, we can’t explain,” he said.

To corroborate these experiences, an announcer in one of the popular radio stations in Borno State, who pleaded not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said in two weeks, at least one announcement on a missing child would be made.

“We have always announced cases of missing children. I can say at least we see such cases once every two weeks. This is alarming,” he said.

Other residents who spoke with The PUNCH called on the government for immediate action, by combing the surrounding forests for missing children.

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“With that video, security agencies must rise to the task. These places are not unknown. It may and may not, but we can’t continue to hear cases of missing children on local radio and a boy came out to say that he and others have been camped in a forest receiving training, yet the government will be comfortable,” Umar Abdulrahman, a resident said.

When contacted, the state police command said there had been at least one reported case of missing children every week in the state.

In an interview, the spokesperson of the command, Nahum Daso, said many such cases had been resolved in the past with a few still ongoing.

“Yes, there have always been cases of missing children. In aggregate, we can say at least one per week.

“Often, we do get the children back. I don’t have the current statistics with me, but we have reunited many missing children with their families.

“Most times when children get missing like that, the suspicion has always been that they have been kidnapped or for other reasons. However, compared to other places, the cases recorded here are very low,” he said.

Reacting to the video, Daso dismissed the recency of the claims, saying the act of using children as foot soldiers was in the past.

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“You know, some of these clips are mostly old ones. From us, we don’t have any threat in regards to maybe children being used as child soldiers, but it used to be in the past. For over a decade, we have not recorded any cases like that,” he said.

Also reacting, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Brig Gen Abdullahi Sabi Ishaq (retd.), said such operations were usually perpetrated by members of the Islamic State of West Africa.

“What you saw on that video is not part of the known activities of Boko Haram. That is the trademark of ISWAP.

“They take small almajiri children who are suffering and malnourished, get them to the bush, feed them and take care of them before training and turning them into combatants.

“Does that boy look malnourished? No. It is the evidence of good living they are having there,” he said.

When asked how the state government would address the claims by the suspect that other children were still undergoing training, he said, “You know, the war is still on and the state is using the non-kinetic model while the army is carrying out operations.

“We must acknowledge that the army is doing its best. However, I must tell you that one thing the army is seriously considering is the issue of collateral damage.

“If the Air Force visits these locations and detonates bombs, considering the little children there, the whole of Nigeria will rise and say that they have burned children. So these are some of the challenges.

“As for us, we rely on the army for this type of operation. Our Civilian Joint Task Force cannot handle it, especially as it concerns ISWAP. We relied more on military strength,” he added.

Highlighting the challenges to tackling the uprising, he said the use of traditional methods in fighting the insurgency was a serious setback.

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“War is no longer fought as it was in the olden days. There is a need for technology that will prevent the soldiers from moving about in the bushes with legs and vehicles, to minimise casualties,” he added.

In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its spokesperson, Jeff Okoroafor, the #BringBackOurGirls movement criticised successive governments for withholding the report on the abducted Chibok girls.

“The #BringBackOurGirls movement wishes to remind President Bola Tinubu’s administration of its constitutional duty to protect all citizens.

“To this effect, the administration has a duty to provide an account of the status of the rescue of the remaining Chibok girls to their families and the Nigerian people.

“We reiterate the importance of bringing closure for the families of the remaining 78 missing school children.

“Critically, the Tinubu administration has, like their predecessors, failed to release the Sabo fact-finding committee report, despite our movement’s request including through an FoI process,” the statement read.

The group recalled that on the night of April 14, 2014, 276 schoolgirls were abducted by terrorists from Government Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State.

Following global outrage and mounting pressure, then-President Goodluck Jonathan set up the Sabo committee on May 6, 2014, to investigate the incident.

The committee’s report, submitted on June 20, 2014, confirmed the abduction, noting that while 57 girls escaped, 219 remained missing at the time.

More than a decade later, BBOG reported that 141 of the originally missing girls had regained freedom, with many resuming their education.

It, however, said 78 girls remained unaccounted for, with concerns that some may have been assimilated into terrorist enclaves.

Okoroafor also urged citizens to join the BBOG to demand comprehensive public disclosure of the tragedy and release of all investigations conducted into the abduction of the Chibok girls on April 14, 2014.

(PUNCH)