Suspected gunmen on Friday morning attacked a school in Zamfara State, abducting scores of students in the third mass abduction in the past three months in Africa’s most populous nation.
The attackers stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Jangebe in the wee hours of the day.
Hours later, the police authorities in the northwestern state confirmed that three hundred and seventeen students (317) were abducted in the latest kidnapping, a development which Amnesty International described as an “attack on education in Northern Nigeria.”
Friday’s attack by assailants is not an isolated case. In the past few years, schoolchildren have become the latest high-profile kidnapping targets in the country, especially in the northern part, raising concerns over the safety of educational institutions across the nation.
Nigeria: Ensure Safe Return of Abducted School Girls, House Tells Govt allafrica.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from allafrica.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Chhristiana Ekpa
The House of Representatives yesterday asked the Federal Government to urgently implement the Safe Schools Declaration to protect children and teachers in the country from attacks and ensure that their education continues without hindrance at all times. The House also asked the government to expedite action on the safe return of all abducted school children in the country right from the incidents of Chibok school girls to the most recent one at Kankara Town in Katsina State. The House equally wants the government to forward the Safe Schools Declaration to the National Assembly for ratification and domestication.
The motion noted that schools not only in the north have been attacked by criminal elements and students abducted in many instances.
It stated that, in April, 2014, a Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State was attacked and 276 female students were kidnapped.
The motion added that another attack was launched at Federal Government College Buni Yadi in Yobe State in February, 2014, whereby dozens of students were murdered and classrooms set on fire.
“In February, 2018, at about 5:50am, 110 school girls aged between 11-19 years were kidnapped from the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi in Yobe State.
“Similar attacks include Babington Junior Secondary School, Ikorodu, Lagos State; Turkish international Secondary School, Isheri in Ogun State; Lagos State Senior Model College, lgbonia in Lagos State and Government Girls Secondary School, Moriki in Zamfara State.
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