from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria Bureau
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – THE surge in abductions of schoolchildren and other members of the public in Nigeria has sent shockwaves through the international community.
Humanitarian groups, the Christian community, and even the United States government of Donald Trump has expressed outrage at the re-emerging trend that is most prevalent in the north.
In the latest incident to be documented, hundreds of children and teachers were abducted from a secondary school in the Niger state, in the early hours of Friday.
This was just days after a separate attack in Kebbi state last Monday led to the abduction of 25 girls from a boarding school.
These are only two of well-documented incidents that has put pressure on the government of Bola Tinubu, whose All Progressives Congress (APC) came to power in 2015 with a pledge to stop such violent crimes afflicting the West African country.
Then, the violators were mainly the Islamist insurgent Boko Haram, but in recent years, there has been a flurry of kidnap-for-ransom gangs wreaking havoc.
Priests and worshippers have not been spared, with the neighbouring Cameroon suffering the attacks, but to a lesser level.
Pope Leo XIV, head of the Catholic Church, expressed pain and sadness.
“I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release,” he appealed.
Tinubu, who cancelled his trip to the just-ended G20 summit in South Africa to enable me coordinate the security efforts at home, said security forces had over the last few days, armed forces had all the 38 worshippers abducted in the Kwara as well as 51 out of the over 300 students abducted at a Catholic school in Niger.
It is reported that 50 other scholars escaped from the gunmen.
“I am closely monitoring the security situation nationwide and receiving continuous updates from the frontline,” Tinubu said.
He assured his government would not relent against the perpetrators.
“Every Nigerian, in every state, has the right to safety, and under my watch, we will secure this nation and protect our people,” Tinubu said.
The African Union condemned the spate of terrorism, violent extremism and banditry in Nigeria.
He has called for the activation of accountability mechanisms to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice in accordance with existing national, continental and global legal frameworks.
While the armed forces have previously reported the capture of some perpetrators, prosecutions are rarely made public.
The government has also come under fire for involvement in negotiations that have reportedly led to the freeing of militants from jail, in exchange for hostages.
Plan International (Nigeria) said the latest abductions showed once again that current measures to keep children safe in and around schools were not sufficient.
“Learning environments remain exposed to serious threats, and the systems that should prevent or respond to attacks are still far too weak,” Country Director, Charles Usie, said.
“These recurring attacks continue to erode parents’ confidence in the education system and in the ability of authorities to protect their children,” he added.
Last week, it emerged the United States was considering imposing sanctions to compel the Nigerian government to better protect Christian communities and religious freedom.
Nigeria is equally divided between Christians, mainly in the south, and Muslims in the north.
Islamist groups are largely blamed for most of the violent crime, particularly in the northeast where they aim to establish an Islamic state.
– CAJ News