Borno Pledges N50 Million On Abducted Girls , UNICEF Condemns Abduction , Military Comb Forests , Families of Kidnapped Girls In Anguish

                                           

Since June 2013, attacks in northeastern Nigeria have resulted in school closures affecting thousands of students, many of whom have had no access to education in months.

16 April 2014 – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has strongly condemned the reported abduction of some 100 school girls between 12 and 17 years old from their school hostel in north-eastern Nigeria yesterday, and called for their immediate and unconditional release.
“UNICEF is deeply concerned about the persistent trend of attacks on schools in Nigeria,” Manuel Fontaine, the agency’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, said today in a statement following the girls’ abduction in Chibok in Borno state on Monday night.
Most recently, unidentified gunmen killed 53 children between 13 and 17 years old at the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe state, in February.
“Such brutal acts of violence are unacceptable,” said Mr. Fontaine. “Attacks on schools deny children their right to learn in a safe environment and can rob them of their future. Wherever it takes place, abduction of children is a crime and illegal under international law.”
Monday night’s attack on the Chibok school took place hours after over 70 people were killed in a bomb attack at a bus station in the Nyanyan neighbourhood, close to the capital, Abuja.
“UNICEF expresses its deepest solidarity to all the communities affected by these horrific acts, and stands with the families of the abducted children in these difficult times. The agency calls for greater efforts to protect all children throughout Nigeria.”
The agency added that the Nigerian Government should urgently take steps to make sure that the children are returned to their families unharmed and that they can continue their education in a safe environment.
North-eastern Nigeria has been prone to attacks by Islamic militants who have in the past targeted civilians, including students and worshippers, politicians, members of Government institutions and foreign nationals.
Meanwhile, the Borno Government on Wednesday pledged N50 million ransom for information that would lead to the rescue of the abducted students of the Government Girls Secondary School Chibok, Chibok Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
The girls were abducted by suspected Boko Haram insurgents on Monday.
Gov. Kashim Shettima, who made the pledge while addressing newsmen in Maiduguri, described the abduction as ”unfortunate.
“I want to make a pledge of N50 million to any individual or individuals who can supply credible information that will lead to the rescue of the abducted girls.
“The principal has requested parents who had children in the school to come forward with necessary information.
“It was based on the information supplied that about 50 girls have so far been confirmed missing.”
Shettima said that the school authorities had so far identified about 50 students missing after making contacts with parents.
The governor said that it was impossible to state categorically the number of girls abducted from the school at present.
“Let me inform you that 10 of the abducted girls escaped from the hideout of the abductors today after they were asked to clean up utensil used for cooking.
“This bring the total number of girls so far rescued to 14 as four other were rescued yesterday.”
Shettima said that the state government was in constant touch with the school authorities with a view to monitoring developments.
“The Commissioner for Education is in constant touch with the principal of the school.
“I am also in constant touch with both the district head of the village and the principal for regular updates.
“We are willing, as a government, to go to every length to ensure that the innocent girls are rescued unhurt.
“I plan to relocate to Chibok and spend a day or two until we make appreciable progress in the rescue of the girls.”
He expressed confident in the capability of the Nigerian Armed Forces to rescue the girls.
“There is an ongoing military operation for the rescue of the girls.
“I believe that the Nigerian Armed Forces, being one of the best in Africa, will succeed in rescuing them.” (NAN)

Military comb forests

This is coming as Nigeria's military combed the woods in search of more than 100 school girls who were abducted earlier this week by Boko Haram militants, authorities said Wednesday.

Vigilantes and volunteers aided in the search near the northeastern town of Chibok, where heavily armed men descended on the Government Secondary School on Monday night as the girls slept in their dormitories. After a long gun battle with soldiers guarding the school, the militants herded the girls onto buses, vans and trucks and drove off, flanked by motorcycles.

"They took away my daughter and my niece... and we fear for their safety in the hands of these merciless people that take delight in killing and destruction," said the mother of one of the abducted girls. "I don't know what to do. The whole family is confused and we have turned to prayers, which is all we have."

Boko Haram, which translates as "western education is sin," is an Islamist militant group waging a campaign of violence in northeastern Nigeria, particularly in the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

The group is known to have carried out deadly attacks on other schools in the northeast. In a clip released by the group March 23, leader Abubakar Shekau threatened to launch raids and abduct girls from schools.

In early March, Borno state's government closed all of its 85 secondary schools and sent more than 120,000 students home following increasing Boko Haram attacks.

The Nigerian government is struggling to control the bloodshed between the mainly Muslim north and Christian south that has claimed more than 3,000 lives since Boko Haram came to prominence in 2009, according to Human Rights Watch.

Rescue teams are fanning out in the forest

Rescue teams, aided by surveillance helicopters, were moving deeper into the vast forest that extends into neighboring Cameroon and other states in the region, said Ali Ndume, a senator representing southern Borno state, in which Chibok is located.

"Soldiers and the Civilian Joint Task Force, as well as volunteers from the area, are now combing the forest to rescue the school girls. They are aided by surveillance helicopters to locate the kidnappers' position," Ndume said.

The teams ventured into the woods after a broken down truck believed to have been part of the kidnapping convoy was found abandoned at the edge of the forest, which suggests that the abductors took their hostages into the woods on foot, he added.

A military official involved in the rescue operation also confirmed a broken down truck was found in the brush.

"We are now trying to locate the whereabouts of the abducted girls," said the military source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak on the issue.

Borno state's education ministry said there were a total of 129 girls at the school at the time of the abduction. The incident came during the final exams period.

However, a student who was one of around a dozen girls who managed to escape from the kidnappers said at least 200 girls were taken away by Boko Haram.

'Pain, sorrow and anguish' for families

Distraught parents of the abducted girls anxiously waited for news, many of them crowded outside the burned home of the Chibok district administrator.

The gunmen burned homes and businesses in the town as they fled with the girls, witnesses said.

"We are calling on the government to do everything possible to track these people and save your daughters from them. They should not allow our daughters' dreams to be shattered by these murderers," said the mother of one abducted girl.

A statement from the office of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who ordered security forces "to deploy maximum efforts" in rescuing the girls and welcomed reports of some rescues.

"President Jonathan deeply regrets the pain, sorrow and anguish brought upon many Nigerian families in recent days as a consequence of recurring security challenges which the nation is contending with," the statement said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the girls' "immediate release," according to a statement from Ban's spokesperson. He is "deeply alarmed about the increasing frequency and brutality of attacks" against schools in northern Nigeria.

"The targeting of schools and school children is a grave violation of international humanitarian law. Schools are, and must remain, safe places where children can learn and grow in peace," the statement said.

A student who was among the girls who escaped recounted her ordeal.

"They forced us into trucks, buses and vans, some of which were carrying food stuffs and petrol. They left with us in a convoy into the bush," said the student, who declined to be named for security reasons. "A group of motorcyclists flanked the convoy to ensure none of us escaped."

At one point, one of the trucks broke down and the girls on that vehicle were transferred to another one, the student said. The broken down truck was set on fire, she added.

When another vehicle broke down and the men tried to fix it, "some of us jumped out of the vehicles and ran into the bush. We later found our way back to Chibok," she said