80 children rescued from Boko Haram can't remember names, origins, families

About eighty children who were rescued from a Boko Haram camp in Cameroon have forgotten their names and origins, officials said.

The children, aged between 5 and 18, were rescued from a camp in northern Cameroon in November in a raid on what was thought to be a Koranic school.

According to a director for the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI), Christopher Fomunyoh, none of them speak not speak English, French or any local languages.

"They've lost touch with their parents," Fomunyoh told the BBC.

"They've lost touch with people in their villages, they're not able to articulate, to help trace their relationships, they can't even tell you what their names are."

The children have lost their identities after spending so much time with their captors.

It is only logical to assume that they have been indoctrinated with jihadist ideology while in captivity.

Boko Haram, interpreted in the local Hausa dialect, has since 2009 being fighting the Nigerian Army in a bid to create an Islamic state.

The insurgency has killed thousands of Nigerians.