Nigeria: One million children will miss school due to mass abductions, according to UNICEF

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Schools have become targets of mass rescue kidnappings in northern Nigeria by armed groups. These kidnappings in Nigeria were carried out first by the jihadist group Boko Haram and then their province of the Islamic State of West Africa, but the tactic has now been adopted by criminal gangs.

So far this year there have been 20 attacks on schools in Nigeria, with more than 1,400 children abducted and 16 dead, UNICEF said, adding that more than 200 children are still missing.

“Learners are cut off from their education … as families and communities continue to be afraid to return children to their classrooms due to the school attack and student abduction in Nigeria,” Peter said Hawkins, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria.

Nigerian state schools closed after mass kidnapping of students by gunmen

More than 37 million Nigerian children will start the new school year this month, UNICEF said.

It is estimated that eight million have had to wait more than a year to learn in person after schools close due to COVID-19 blockades.

Insecurity also led to the closure of schools in Nigeria. Several northwestern states have tried to curb the hijacking by banning the sale of fuel in drums and the transportation of firewood in trucks in order to disrupt gangs traveling on motorcycles and camping in remote locations.

In Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, the start of the school period has been delayed to an unusually late, unexplained date after kidnappers from schools in nearby states sought bailouts.

Zamfara state mobile network providers were ordered to close communications for two weeks “to allow relevant security agencies to carry out the activities necessary to meet the security challenge in the state.” , said the Communications Commission of Nigeria in a letter.

The directive came after at least 73 students were abducted from a public high school in Maradun district in Zamfara. All of these students have been released.

Military authorities carried out raids aimed at hiding kidnappers and other criminal gangs in the state, known locally as “bandits.”

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