from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria Bureau
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – THE renewed spate of kidnappings at schools has affected some 670 children in Nigeria in less than two years
At least ten school kidnappings have taken place across the country during that period.
An analysis by Save the Children of media reports and data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) shows an uptick in kidnappings of children in or on their way to school in Nigeria.
In the past month alone, at least 325 children and staff have been kidnapped in two school attacks, highlighting the extreme vulnerability of students and schools.
Save the Children reports these attacks are far from unique.
In March 2024, one major attack led to 287 students and a teacher being kidnapped in Kaduna state.
Despite fading from international headlines after the 2014 abduction of the Chibok girls, kidnappings of children in or on their way to school have continued in Nigeria, with analysis indicating the situation is worsening, Save the Children stated.
Duncan Harvey, Save the Children’s country director in Nigeria said, “These alarming figures on the number of children kidnapped at school and the latest abductions in Nigeria must be a wake-up call as we are seeing schools and students come increasingly under attack in Nigeria.”
Around 19 million children in Nigeria (27 percent) do not attend due to the threat of kidnappings, poverty and cultural factors.
This is one of the highest numbers in the world.
Nigeria endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration in 2015.
Save the Children has been working in Nigeria since 2001.
– CAJ News