Zamfara: Pupils’ Abductions Meant To Stop Northern Children From Getting Education – Women Group
The Women Arise for Change Initiative has condemned the abduction of 317 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State.
Earlier on Friday, suspected bandits attacked the school in the Talata-Mafara Lcal Government Area and kidnapped many students.
The gunmen were said to have arrived in the school around 1 am and loaded the girls in buses.
The attack happened just days after some students and staff of Government Science College, Kagara in Rafi Local Government of Niger State were abducted by bandits who have yet to set them free.
On December 11, 2020, over 300 students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina State were abducted by bandits who released them six days later.
Reacting in a statement by its President, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, the women group said the attack and similar ones in the past are targeted at demoralising not only the girl-child but also other children from accessing education in the region.
The statement read, “We consider the latest kidnap of these innocent school girls in Zamfara State, coming a few days after a similar incidence in Kagara, Niger State, as purely an act of terrorism and a sad reminder of the unforgettable abduction of over 200 school girls in Chibok about seven years ago.
“The attack on schoolchildren, particularly on girls, is targeted at demoralising not only the girl-child but also other children from accessing education.
“It is sad that our country has been unable to mitigate against the reoccurrence of this kind of attack on our schools, despite all assurances after the Chibok incident.
“We hereby demand that just as the government rescued the schoolboys at Kankara in Katsina and the Dapchi schoolgirls in Yobe, it should, in the same vein, rescue the Zamfara schoolgirls in the quickest time possible.
“Finally, there must be a renewed commitment from the Federal Government to tackle the menace of terrorism, which is no longer targeted at our territorial integrity but on lives, including those of innocent schoolchildren.”
Hundreds of schoolgirls were also kidnapped in Chibok in 2014 by Boko Haram, some of whom have not been released till date.
In February 2018, 110 schoolgirls were also abducted by Boko Haram from the Government Girls' Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State. Five died in the process while others were later released, except Leah Sharibu, a Christian girl who refused to renounce her faith.
Insurgency Terrorism News AddThis : Original Author : Saharareporters, New York Disable advertisements :
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