A NORTH-EAST aid worker has told of his efforts trying to rehabilitate members of one of the most violent militia groups in Africa.

Ged Naughton, 33, of Consett, County Durham, worked with the rebel West Side Boys in Sierra Leone.

As well as causing mayhem across the troubled country, the West Side Boys captured 11 British soldiers from the First Royal Irish Regiment. A soldier from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, was killed in a successful rescue operation.

Mr Naughton, who works for Catholic international charity Cafod told how the camps had been set up to teach members of the West Side Boys "how to be children again".

He said: "What struck me was how young these children were. They were boys and girls aged between eight and 14.

"Without their guns they looked so vulnerable."