Amnesty International says the mass abduction in Kajuru local government area of Kaduna State is a sign of a reign of impunity in Nigeria.
Recall that at least 61 people were abducted as terrorists attacked Buda, a community in Kajuru local government area late Monday. The abduction in Buda followed the mass abduction by terrorists of school pupils in Kuriga in Chikun local government area of the same Kaduna State.
Responding to the abduction of at least 60 people by gunmen in Buda, in the state of Kaduna, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, said: “Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu and his government must urgently address the country’s spate of abductions targeting children in schools and internally-displaced persons (IDPs) camps in the northern part of the country.
“In the last ten days, nearly 700 people have been abducted by gunmen in Borno, Kaduna and Sokoto. Amnesty International receives almost daily reports of abductions including in Zamfara, Katsina and Niger states. The abductions and attacks are forcing many parents into keeping their children out of schools.
“The consistent failure of the Nigerian authorities to stem the tide of abductions targeting children and schools means that a generation of children could miss out on education, as fear of abductions compel authorities to close hundreds of schools while teachers are abandoning their rural posts.
“Time is running out for the authorities to effectively perform its legal responsibility of protecting people’s lives and security and to secure the safe release of hundreds of people held in captivity by gunmen. The inability of the Nigerian authorities to bring the perpetrators of these abductions to justice is further emboldening impunity and putting lives at greater risk.
“Amnesty International has documented at least 17 cases of abductions in less than a decade and in many cases the authorities’ failure to act and security lapses made it easier for gunmen to storm schools and abduct children.
“The Tinubu government must move swiftly to make the security and safety of everyone in the country a public policy priority”, it stressed.
