As the year fizzles out, very disturbing security statistics being rolled out by global watchdog, Amnesty International, shows that children in Nigeria have become the major target of attacks by bandits.
In an issued statement on Thursday, the organisation claimed that 780 children have so far been abducted, 10 school children killed and 61 still held in custody.
Knocking the authorities for allegedly failing the Nigerian child, Amnesty said, “Nigerian authorities are failing children as at least 61 children in northern Nigeria remain in captivity, months after their abduction during mass attacks on schools, which also terminated the education of thousands of children, while putting children in captivity through horrific and degrading treatment in the hands of bandits.
“No child should go through what children are going through now in Nigeria. Education should not be a matter of life and death for anyone. Nigeria is failing children once again in a horrifying manner”, according to the Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Osai Ojigho.
“Children in orphanages, schools and places of worship are often abducted and held in captivity for weeks, sometimes months, depending on when or if the demands of their abductors are met. Children in school buses or walking to schools are also sometimes ambushed and abducted for ransom”.
Ojigho further stated: “The future of thousands of school children in Northern Nigeria remains bleak as hundreds of schools in some states have been closed indefinitely due to rising insecurity. Many children abandoned education due to the psychological trauma of witnessing violent attacks or living in captivity”.
Ojigho believes the stunning development is deliberate to thwart educational pursuit in northern Nigeria, saying, “There is a deliberate attack on children by armed groups. Using children as shields or bargaining chips is unacceptable and must stop. Attacks on schools, abductions and killings of schoolchildren demonstrate an absolute disregard for the right to life and the right to education.
The Nigeria government must investigate these attacks as war crimes and crimes against humanity. The authorities must provide protection for schools and children. Attacks on schools are a violation of international law and the authorities must ensure that these attacks are properly investigated, and alleged perpetrators brought to justice in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty”, Amnesty stated.
