A growing number of international organisations are expressing concern with the increasing cases and handling of insecurity in Nigeria as many welcomed the release of the abducted school children.
In a media release made available to African Voice, IA-Foundation, an organisation dedicated to the reduction and elimination of “out-of-school” children has condemned the abduction of students at Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, in Katsina state, Nigeria on the 11th of December 2020, by suspected bandits.
Ibironke Adeagbo, Chief Executive Officer of IA-Foundation said, “The Foundation is indeed shocked that similar act of terror is still happening, after the well-publicised Chibok and Dapchi girls’ abduction. The Foundation had earlier call for the immediate and unconditional release of the abducted children and for their safe return to their families, described their safe return as a big relief to their families.
“It is the right of every Nigerian child to study in a secured learning and educational facility. This is a fundamental human right and the Foundation urges security agencies to rescue these students promptly and for the government to provide a conducive environment for these children when they eventually return to school. We believe our children should feel safe when attending school.
“The Foundation reaffirms its support for the Federal, state, and local government in their constitutional duty to providing good education for every Nigerian child. We believe good education will reduce poverty and improve social mobility.”
“One of IA-Foundation’s objectives is to reduce the number and eliminate “out-of-school” children. This sad event is inimical to this noble objective. Hence, our determination is to stand firm and ensure that the abducted children are rescued and returned to continue with their education within a secured environment.
“Every child’s safety ought to be the responsibility of all. IA-Foundation prays along with the parents, that their children will be safely recovered and back with their individual families, before the formal commencement of the festive season.”
The Boko Haram extremist group claimed responsibility Tuesday for abducting hundreds of boys from a school in Nigeria’s northern Katsina State last week in one of the largest such attacks in years, raising fears of a growing wave of violence in the region.
More than 330 students remain missing from the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara after gunmen with assault rifles attacked their school Friday night, although scores of others managed to escape.
The government and the attackers are negotiating the fate of the boys, according to Garba Shehu, a spokesman for Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The kidnappers had made contact and discussions were already on, pertaining to the safety and return” of the children to their homes, said Mr. Shehu on Twitter during talks with Katsina Gov. Aminu Masari. Neither official said whether the negotiations are with Boko Haram or another group.
Mr. Masari said security agencies “deployed for rescue operations have also informed us that they have located their position.”
If Boko Haram is proven to be behind the abduction, it could mean a new wave of religious extremism is on the rise in Nigeria. For more than 10 years, the group has engaged in a bloody campaign for introducing strict Islamic rule, but it has been mainly active in northeast Nigeria, not in the northwest, where Katsina State is located. Thousands have been killed and more than a million people displaced by the violence.
Nnamdi Obasi of the International Crisis Group said a shift of Boko Haram’s activities to the northwest would have serious security implications because it could partner with other armed criminal groups known to carry out attacks and collect payments from households and markets.
“They are like mini-armies that are able to carry out operations in defiance of the security forces, and it is worrisome,” Mr. Obasi told The Associated Press.
The local armed groups have no religious ideology, however, and Mr. Obasi said Boko Haram’s movement into the northwest would create “a risk of convergence between criminal groups and jihadist groups. The trajectories are very disturbing.”
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