The UN chief on Friday welcomed the release of the 344 schoolboys forcibly taken away from their school in northwest Nigeria a week ago.
After the release of the boys, kidnapped by armed men from Government Science Secondary School in Kankara on 11 December, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the “immediate and unconditional release of those who remain abducted”.
In a statement presented by his Deputy Spokesperson, Farhan Haq, Mr Guterres commended “the swift action taken by the Nigerian authorities to rescue the children” while also stressing the importance that those children and their families are now “provided with the necessary health and psychosocial support”.
CREDIT:TIME MAGAZINE
A UN statement said the boys arrived by bus in the capital of Katsina and were received by President Muhammadu Buhari.
State authorities are saying that the children were abducted by local bandits, casting doubt on the initial claim it was the militant Jihadist group, Boko Haram that were responsible for such act.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Nigeria, pointed out that for one week, “parents were awake at night, crying and awaiting the return of their sons”.
“My thoughts and solidarity are with these children, their families and the Kankara community – who have endured an unimaginable ordeal this past week,” said UNICEF Nigeria Representative Peter Hawkins.
Last Friday’s attack during the middle of the night, in a place where children should feel secure, was “an outrage”, the UNICEF envoy said. “Schools should be safe,” he upheld. “Children should never be the target of the attack – and yet, far too often in Nigeria, they are precisely that – victims of attacks on their schools.”
Attacks on educational facilities deprive young people of the right to an education, make them fearful of returning to the classroom and cause parents to become frightened at the thought of sending their children to school, the UNICEF official stressed.
These attacks are a grave violation of children’s rights, according to Mr Hawkins, who referred to this incident as “a disturbing reminder” of the heavy toll that violence takes on civilians in northwest Nigeria, including children.
The Secretary-General called for “increased efforts to safeguard schools and educational facilities in the country” and reiterated the UN’s solidarity and commitment in “supporting the Government and people of Nigeria in their fight against terrorism, violent extremism and organized crime”.
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