THE United Nation Children Education Fund (UNICEF)has expressed concern about the fate of the abducted 150 students from the Salihu Tanko Islamiya School in Tegina, Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, calling for their immediate and unconditional release.
A statement from the UNICEF media office, made available by Rushnan Murtaza, the officer in charge of UNICEF’s representatives in Nigeria said, “we are appalled that two weeks after 150 students were abducted from their school, they are still held bound by their abductors.”
UNICEF stressed that attacks on students and schools were not only reprehensible but a gross violation of children’s right to education.
The statement stated further that, “parents of the abducted students are grieving over the ‘disappearance’ of their children; siblings are missing their brothers and sisters – these children must be immediately and unconditionally released and safely reunited with their families.”
“It is horrifying that schools and schoolchildren continue to be targets of attack – and in this particular incident, even children as young as three-year-old. We can only begin to imagine how frightened they are, and the impact this will have on their mental health and well-being.”
The organisation therefore called on the Nigerian government to deploy all measures to protect schools in the country, and implement the promises made in the Financing Safe Schools in Nigeria conference held in April this year, so that children will not be fearful of going to school, and parents afraid of sending their children to school.
“Schools must be safe places to study and develop, and learning should not be a risky endeavour,” Rushnan Murtaza said.
“There are very few, if any, things that are more important for any society than ensuring the safe education of its children.”
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