Kankara Abduction: UNICEF Demands Safe Release Of School Children
BY TEMI OHAKWE, ABUJA – The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has condemned the attack on Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, Northwest Nigeria, by a terror group where hundreds of children were reported missing.
The UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Marie-Pierre Poirier, in a statement demanded for the immediate and safe release of the children to their families.
According to Poirier; “Attacks on schools are a violation of children’s rights. This is a grim reminder that abductions of children and widespread grave violations of children’s rights continue to take place in northern Nigeria.”
She also said school children should feel safe everywhere at home, school and their playgrounds at all times.
UNICEF in the statement acknowledged the Nigerian government’s efforts in ensuring the safe return of the missing school children just as it expressed its solidarity with the affected community.
Some armed men last week Friday night invaded Government Science Secondary School, Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State and kidnapped hundreds of students.
Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State said on Sunday night that a total of 333 schoolboys were yet to be accounted for and therefore called on affected parents to present themselves, if their children were yet to return home.
Meanwhile, the presidency on Sunday through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Sheu said that the Nigerian troops have launched ground and air operations in search of the terror group, saying that the missing schoolboys would be recovered safe.
