It was initially reported that 215 students were kidnapped from St. Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State, early Friday morning – but the figure was revised upwards to 303 students and 12 teachers, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria.
The association’s president, who reportedly visited the school on Friday, said more than 80 students were captured after trying to escape during the kidnapping by armed attackers. The students were men and women, aged 10 to 18 years old.
Second mass kidnapping this week
The number of girls kidnapped from a Catholic school in the center of the country exceeds the 276 girls kidnapped during the infamous 2014 Chibok incident and is the latest in a series of mass kidnappings – including earlier this week when 25 students were taken from a school in Kebbi State.
No group has yet claimed responsibility and authorities have deployed security forces to try to locate the students and their captors. Niger State has reportedly closed all schools until further notice.
Perpetrators must be held accountable
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed – a former Nigeria environment minister – said in a social media post that schools should be “sanctuaries for education, not targets… We must protect schools and hold perpetrators accountable.”
The top UN official in the country, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohamed Fall, said the news of yet another mass kidnapping was heartbreaking, coming just days after the Kebbi kidnappings.
He conveyed his condolences to the families of those taken away and their communities, adding that all efforts must be made to ensure the safe return of students and staff.
“It is time to fully implement the principle of safe schools,” he said, launched at the first international conference on safe schools in Oslo, Norway, in 2015. Nigeria was among the countries that endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration that year.
Stand with the victims
United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEFsaid this week that it continues to work closely with government partners, civil society and communities, to strengthen child protection systems, in line with the declaration that no child should be put at risk while pursuing their education.
The United Nations agency for culture, education and science (UNESCO) in Nigeria also condemned Friday’s latest mass kidnapping, saying schools should never be targets.
“We stand with the victims, their families and the government of Nigeria and call for the immediate release of all the abducted children,” the agency said.
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
