Boko Haram: Over 1,000 children kidnapped in northeast Nigeria – UNICEF
no fewer than 1,000 children, including 276 Chibok girls have been
abducted by Boko Haram in North-East since 2013.
In a statement issued to newsmen in Abuja, the UNICEF Country
Representative, Mohamed Malick Fall, described the reoccurring attacks
against children as unconscionable.
He further called for the release of those still held in captivity by
the insurgents, saying, "UNICEF is appealing for an end to attacks on
schools and all grave violations of children's rights.
"Since 2013, more than 1,000 children have been abducted by Boko Haram
in northeastern Nigeria, including 276 girls taken from their
secondary school in the town of Chibok in 2014.
"The four-year anniversary of the Chibok abduction reminds us that
children in northeastern Nigeria continue to come under attack at a
shocking scale. They are consistently targeted and exposed to brutal
violence in their homes, schools and public places.
"Four years on from that tragic incident, more than 100 of the 'Chibok
girls' have yet to be returned to their families.
"The recent attack on a school in Dapchi in which five girls lost
their lives is just the latest indication that there are few safe
spaces left for children in the northeast. Not even schools are spared
from violence.
"These repeated attacks against children in schools are
unconscionable. Children have the right to education and protection,
and the classroom must be a place where they are safe from harm.
"Nigerian authorities have made a commitment to make schools safer and
more resilient to attack, and UNICEF stands with them to implement the
Safe Schools Declaration, by which Nigeria commits to protecting
schools and universities from violence and military use during armed
conflict."
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