UNICEF Calls For Immediate Release Of Abducted Islamic School Children

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed grave concern over the fate of children abducted from an Islamic school in Tegina, Rafi Local Government Area of ​​Niger State.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Unicef ​​called for the immediate rescue of the children, including those under the age of five.

“As Nigeria just marked two weeks since the abduction of 150 students from the Salihu Tanko Islamiya School in Tegina, Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, north-central Nigeria, we are appalled that two weeks after 150 students were abducted from their school, they continue to be held by their abductors,” said Rushnan Murtaza, Officer in Charge, Representative of UNICEF Nigeria.

“Parents are grieving their children’s ‘disappearance’; siblings are missing their brothers and sisters – these children must be immediately and unconditionally released and safely reunited with their families.

“It is horrifying that schools and schoolchildren continue to be targets of attack – and in this particular incident, even children as young as three years old.

“We can only begin to imagine how frightened they are, and the impact this will have on their mental health and well-being.”

UNICEF ​​emphasizes that attacks on schools violate children’s and educational rights.

It called on the Nigerian government to do everything possible to protect the country’s schools so that no children would be afraid to go to school.

Naija News recalls that the Bandits responsible for the abduction of pupils reached out to the management of the institution to demand ransom, the terrorists threatened to kill all the children if the state government fail to pay the ransom.