Nigeria: UN plans to rehabilitate Boko Haram escapees

A team of United Nations human rights experts are scheduled to begin a five-day visit to Nigeria on Monday to assist in the rehabilitation of women and children that escaped from Boko Haram’s captivity.

The UN Human Rights office of the High Commissioner said in a statement released in Geneva, Switzerland that the experts had been mandated to promote strategies to prevent and protect the rights of women and children.

“Some United Nations human rights experts will visit Nigeria to assist in the rehabilitation and reintegration of the women and children who escaped or were liberated from Boko Haram captivity,” said the statement and added that, “during their five-day visit, the experts will gather information on the various initiatives adopted by governmental, international and non-governmental actors to support these women and children.”

The UN hopes that the information gathered would assist the women and children in coping with their suffering, trauma, and stigma and possibly return them to their normal lives.

More than 15,000 people have been killed and at least another 2 million more displaced by a Boko Haram insurgency in northern Nigeria.

The Islamic militants are fighting to establish an Islamic caliphate in the occupied territories.