From Timothy Olanrewaju Maiduguri
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has expressed deep concern over increasing attacks against school children and child abductions in parts of Nigeria, West and Central African nations.
Unicef, in a statement from its New York headquarters, yesterday, and made available to newsmen through its Nigeria office, said concerns deepen over incessant attacks on children and mass abduction in schools, especially the Monday kidnap of about 150 students, at a school in Northwest Kaduna State.
“On July 5th, 150 students were reportedly abducted from a school in Nigeria’s Kaduna State, marking the latest incident in an alarming spate of attacks against children and abductions, including of students in parts of West and Central Africa,” Unicef Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, said in the statement.
She said the global body was deeply concerned that such attacks appeared to be on the increase, raising fears for the safety and wellbeing of the country’s and region’s children.
“Already in 2020, according to the latest report of the United Nations Secretary General on children and armed conflict, one in three child victims of grave violations has been in West Africa,” she said.
She identified Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Central Africa Republic as countries where attacks on children are prevalent in Africa.
She asked authorities in the affected countries to take action to halt the growing rate of attacks and abduction of children.