UNICEF demands action to free 78 abducted Borno schoolchildren

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for urgent action from the Nigerian federal and Borno State governments to secure the release of about 78 schoolchildren abducted in recent weeks. The children were taken in two separate incidents in the Lassa and Mussa communities within the Askira/Uba Local Government Area.

On May 16, suspected Boko Haram terrorists attacked Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School, abducting 42 students. Just over a month later, on June 29, a similar attack occurred at Government Day Secondary School in Lassa, where 36 students and one teacher were taken. These two incidents account for the total of 78 missing children.

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We are worried about the abduction of children, not only in Borno State but in Nigeria at large. School should be a safe place for them. They come here to learn and grow themselves.

Dr. Rownak Khan, UNICEF Nigeria's Deputy Representative, expressed deep concern over the spate of abductions, emphasizing that schools should be safe havens for learning and growth. "We are worried about the abduction of children, not only in Borno State but in Nigeria at large. School should be a safe place for them," Khan stated during a media briefing in Maiduguri.

UNICEF is collaborating with the Borno State Government to implement safe-school protocols, acknowledging the complexity of the issue due to the broader security situation. The agency stressed that while governments bear the ultimate responsibility for ensuring children's safety and facilitating their release, UNICEF stands ready to provide crucial psychosocial support, nutrition, and health services for the children upon their safe return and reintegration into their families and communities.

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At the end of the day, they are Nigerian children, so it is the ultimate responsibility of the government of Nigeria to make sure that, first, they are not abducted, and secondly, put all the effort to release those children back to their families.