UNICEF Demands Immediate Release Of 150 Abducted Nigerian Students

The United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has demanded the immediate release of 150 kidnapped Nigerian school children.

The appeal is coming two weeks after the abduction of the students from the Salihu Tanko Islamiya School in Tegina, Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State in the north-central part of the country and UNICEF expressed deep concern about the fate of the children, some of whom are as young as three, and called for their immediate and unconditional release.

In a statement on Monday, signed by Dr. Geoffrey Njoku, Communication Specialist, UNICEF was worried about the mental and general well-being of the abducted children.

The statement partly read: “We are appalled that two weeks after 150 students were abducted from their school, they continue to be held by their abductors.

“Parents are grieving their children’s ‘disappearance; siblings are missing their brothers and sisters – these children must be immediately and unconditionally released and safely reunited with their families.

“It is horrifying that schools and schoolchildren continue to be targets of attack, and in this particular incident, even children as young as three years old. We can only begin to imagine how frightened they are, and the impact this will have on their mental health and well-being.”

UNICEF stressed that attacks on students and schools were not only reprehensible but a gross violation of the right of children to an education. It is a right that any society can ill-afford to violate.

The organisation called on the Nigerian Government to take all measures to protect schools in the country, and implement the promises made in the Financing Safe Schools in Nigeria Conference in April this year, so that children will not be fearful of going to school, and parents afraid of sending their children to school.

“Schools must be safe places to study and develop, and learning should not be a risky endeavour,” said Rushnan Murtaza.

“There are very few – if any – things more important for any society than ensuring the safe education of its children.”