Strongly condemning the abduction of schoolgirls, UN Secretary-General asks Nigerian government to ensure their immediate release, safe return home
Abuja: The local police has confirmed abduction of 317 school girls following an attack by over 100 unidentified gunmen on a Government’s Girls Secondary School in Jangebe town of Zamfara State in north-west Nigeria happened overnight on February 26, 2021.There’s not been any claim of responsibility, so far.
Reports say that the schoolgirls were taken from their hostels by gunmen who raided the School, and also shot at the security officer. They disappeared with the girls in the forest, eyewitnesses said.
“The Zamfara State Police Command in collaboration with the military have commenced a joint search and rescue operations with a view to rescuing the 317 students kidnapped by the armed bandits in Government Girls Science Secondary School Jangebe,” police spokesman Mohammed Shehu said in a statement.
Peter Hawkins, the UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) Representative in Nigeria, called on those responsible to release the girls immediately and for the Government to take steps to ensure their safe release and the safety of other schoolchildren in the country.
In New York, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement condemning the abduction and called for the immediate and unconditional release of the abducted children and for their safe return to their families. He reiterated that attacks on schools and other educational facilities constitute a grave violation of the rights of children and human rights more broadly. Stressing that schools must remain safe spaces for children to learn without fear of violence, Guterres urged the Nigerian authorities to spare no efforts in bringing those responsible for this crime to justice.
There have been growing incidents of kidnapping for ransom, raping and pillaging by heavily-armed criminal gangs known locally as “bandits” in northwest and central Nigeria. Just last week, 42 people were taken by a gang from a boys school in nearby Niger state., while in December, more than 300 boys were kidnapped from a school in Kankara, in President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state of Katsina, while he was visiting the region.
– global bihari bureau
