The United Nations Children Fund has raised alarm over the attacks and abduction of children in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, noting that 950 students were abducted from their schools since last December.
A statement issued by UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, made available to Blueprint on Wednesday in Kaduna following the abduction of 121 students of Bethel Baptist Secondary School, Kaduna, said, “33% of child victims of grave violations took place in West and Central Africa. Such incidents appear to be increasing in frequency, raising fears for the safety and wellbeing of the region’s children.”
“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.
“We are deeply concerned that as in years past, non-state armed groups and parties to conflict in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Niger and Nigeria will ramp up these violent activities over the coming weeks ahead of the rainy season when their movements could be restricted by flooding.
“Such incidents appear to be increasing in frequency, raising fears for the safety and wellbeing of the region’s children. Already in 2020, according to the latest report of the United Nations Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, 1 in 3 child victims of grave violations has been in West and Central Africa.
“Meanwhile in Nigeria, the UN estimates that at least 950 students have been abducted from their schools by armed men since December. Over the past six weeks alone, nearly 500 children were abducted in four separate incidents across the central and Northwest parts of the country. Many of these children have not yet been returned. It is hard to fathom the pain and fear that their families and loved ones are suffering in their absence.
“Attacks against children, families and schools are also occurring in Niger. So far this year, armed groups have killed nearly 300 people, including 45 children, in coordinated assaults on villages in the Tillábery and Tahoua regions. In some of these incidents, perpetrators targeted families fetching water. Up to 80 per cent of children living in areas most affected by violence need psychosocial support because of the distress they experience.
“It is not enough to condemn these crimes, not when millions of children face a worsening protection crisis. Children living in these areas need concerted action to ensure that they can safely live, go to school or fetch water without fear of being attacked or taken from their families.
“This starts with non-state armed groups and all parties to conflict who are committing violations of children’s rights – they have a moral and legal obligation to immediately cease attacks against civilians, and to respect and protect civilians and civilian objects during any military operations. They should also not impede but facilitate the efforts of UNICEF and other humanitarian actors on the ground working to reach vulnerable children.
“The international community also has an important role to play. We need our donors to increase their contributions so that we can expand our work to reduce children’s vulnerabilities and increase their resilience to keep them safe from harm.
“These efforts include creating safe temporary learning environments for children in areas where schools have been closed because of insecurity, providing psychosocial support to children affected by violence, and supporting education on mine risk awareness. Every effort must be made to reverse the spiraling protection crisis for children as the region is on the brink of catastrophe.”
