Nigeria: Schools should be ‘reserves and not targets’, says UN deputy chief after latest mass kidnapping

It was originally reported that 215 students had been kidnapped from St. Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State, early Friday morning, but the figure was revised upwards to 303 students and 12 teachers, according to The Christian Association of Nigeria.

The association’s president, who reportedly visited the school on Friday, said more than 80 students were captured after they tried to escape during the kidnapping by armed assailants. The students were both men and women, aged 10 to 18 years.

Second mass kidnapping this week

The number snatched from the Catholic school in the center of the country exceeds the 276 girls kidnapped during the infamous Chibok incident of 2014 and is the latest in a series of mass kidnappings – including earlier this week when 25 students were taken from a school in Kebbi State.

No group has yet claimed responsibility and authorities have deployed security forces to locate the students and their captors. Niger State has reportedly closed all schools until further notice.

Perpetrators must be held accountable

UN Deputy Secretary General Amin Mohammed – a former minister of environment in Nigeria – said in a social media post that schools should be “sanctuaries for education, not targets… We must protect schools and hold perpetrators accountable.”

The top UN official in the country, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohamed Fall, reported that news of yet another mass kidnapping was heartbreaking, just days after the kidnappings in Kebbi.

He conveyed his condolences to the families of the detainees and their communities, adding that every effort must be made to ensure the safe return of students and staff.

“It is time to fully implement the Safe School Principle,” he said, which was launched at the First International Conference on Safe Schools in Oslo, Norway, in 2015. Nigeria was among the countries that endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration that year.

Stand with the victims

UN Children’s Fund, UNICEFsaid this week that it continues to work closely with government partners, civil society and communities, to strengthen child protection systems in line with the declaration that no child should be placed at risk while pursuing an education.

The UN Agency for Culture, Education and Science (UNESCO) office in Nigeria also condemned Friday’s latest mass kidnapping and said schools should never be targeted.

“We stand with the victims, their families and the government of Nigeria and call for the immediate release of all abducted children,” the organization said.