News
Nigeria: 10 Years after Chibok, Schoolchildren Still at Risk – HRW
Nigeria: 10 Years after Chibok, Schoolchildren Still at Risk – HRW
…Urges Government To Implement Safe Schools Plan to Protect Schools, Children
By: Our Reporter
Ten years after the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigerian authorities have failed to put in place and sustain crucial measures to provide a secure learning environment for every child, Human Rights Watch said today.
Since 2014, according to Save the Children, more than 1,600 children have been abducted or kidnapped across northern Nigeria. In the northeast, the armed conflict between Boko Haram and Nigerian armed forces continues to take its toll and, in the northwest, criminal groups commonly called bandits are terrorizing communities. During February and March 2024 alone, bandits kidnapped over 200 children from their schools in Kaduna and Sokoto states.
“For many children across northern Nigeria, the pursuit of an education means facing the constant threat of abduction or kidnapping,” said Anietie Ewang, Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Children should never face the harrowing dilemma of sacrificing their safety for education, but this untenable choice, which echoes the profound insecurity plaguing the country, is thrust upon them daily.”
On April 14, 2014, Boko Haram, an Islamist armed group, abducted 276 girls from their school in Chibok, a town in northeastern Borno state, sparking global outrage. Although some of the girls escaped, or were released or rescued, 96 remain in captivity according to UNICEF, and civil society groups continue to pressure the government to ensure they are rescued. Boko Haram, known for its opposition to education, has carried out other such abductions, including one of 110 girls from a school in Dapchi, a town in Yobe state, in 2018.
In addition to kidnappings by Boko Haram in the northeast, the ongoing banditry crisis in the northwest has in recent years made that area a hub for criminal kidnapping for ransom. The crisis emerged after years of conflict between herders and farmers, giving rise to the criminal groups, which have carried out widespread killings, looting, extortion, and kidnapping for ransom in mostly rural communities.
Between December 2020 and February 2021, a series of high-profile incidents, including the abduction of over 600 schoolchildren across Zamfara, Katsina, and Niger states, thrust the kidnapping issue into the spotlight.
In the aftermath of Chibok, the Nigerian government endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, an international political commitment to protect education from attack and schools from military use which turns them into targets. The government also adopted a Safe School Initiative for Nigeria with the support of the global community and Nigerian business leaders. The initiative aimed to raise funds with an initial US$10 million pledge to help make schools safer, including by moving them to safer areas and creating a safe school model for schools across Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, the three states worst hit by the Boko Haram insurgency.
However, the multi-stakeholder initiative faced problems, and there has been a decline in momentum over the years with little or no progress made in fortifying schools, Human Rights Watch said. In 2021, Nigeria’s then-Senate president Ahmad Lawan, following an investigation into the utilization of the funds for the initiative, declared that it was designed to fail without a National Policy and Strategy for the Safe School Initiative and the leadership of the Federal Education Ministry. In the meantime, communities continue to suffer the brunt of bandit attacks and schoolchildren remain vulnerable prey.
A Chibok girl who was in Boko Haram captivity for over two years, and was released with 20 others, told Human Rights Watch that news of school kidnappings brings back memories of her ordeal. “Whenever I hear that more children have been kidnapped, I feel terrible, helpless,” she said. “We are still not safe … It brings back memories of what happened to me. I can never forget being snatched from my parents, my family for so long. I pray this is not the case for those that are kidnapped.” She is now a 28-year-old university student studying natural and environmental sciences.
Kemi Okenyodo, an expert in security and governance and the executive director of the Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative in Abuja, told Human Rights Watch that the ongoing school kidnappings, resembling those in Chibok a decade ago, highlight a failure to learn from past experiences, as they are taking place without adequate security infrastructure or intervention from authorities to prevent dozens or hundreds of children being snatched away at once.
Amid the heightened threat of attacks on schools, many have been forced to shut down completely, with more than 20 million children out of school in Nigeria, according to UNESCO, among the highest number in any country in the world. According to UNICEF, 66 percent of out-of-school children in Nigeria are from the northeast and northwest, which are among the poorest regions in the country.
For girls especially, the challenges are double edged. They risk rape and other forms of sexual violence if kidnapped, and if kept out of school, they risk child marriage, which is a common practice in these regions.
In 2021, the government adopted the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence Free Schools aimed at improving school security, strengthening the capabilities of security agents to respond to threats, and ensuring that education continues for children displaced by conflict and crisis, among other reasons.
The authorities committed to investing 144.8 billion naira (about $314.5 million at the time) over a certain period to finance this initiative. In 2023, they announced that 15 billion naira (about $24 million at the time) had been earmarked to pilot the initiative in 18 high-risk states and 48 schools. However, details of the implementation are sparse, and it remains unclear the extent to which this has been done.
Okenyodo told Human Rights Watch that the government needs to involve communities in designing and implementing initiatives to make schools safer to create a sense of ownership and reduce inefficiency and corruption.
“Now more than ever, the Nigerian authorities should step up efforts to make learning safe for children,” Ewang said. “They should work with communities to adopt rights-respecting measures and put in place adequate financing, systems, and structures to ensure quick, effective, and transparent implementation to ensure that children can learn without being exposed to grave harm.”
Nigeria: 10 Years after Chibok, Schoolchildren Still at Risk – HRW
VP Shettima Departs Abuja To Represent President Tinubu At G20 Leaders’ Summit In South Africa
By: Our Reporter
Following the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to stay back in Nigeria and attend to security concerns in the country, Vice President Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja to represent the President at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa @g20org.
President Tinubu had postponed his earlier scheduled trip to Johannesburg, South Africa to await further security briefings on the recent security incidents in Kebbi and Kwara States.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African leader who also serves as the current President of the G20 group had invited his Nigerian counterpart to participate in this year’s edition.
The Summit, scheduled to take place from Saturday, November 22nd, to Sunday, November 23rd, at the Johannesburg Expo Centre, brings together leaders from the world’s top 20 economies, including the European Union, the African Union, financial institutions, among others.
The Vice President will return to Nigeria at the end of the engagements.
VP Shettima Departs Abuja To Represent President Tinubu At G20 Leaders’ Summit In South Africa
News
PRESIDENT TINUBU ASKS MATAWALLE, MINISTER OF STATE FOR DEFENCE, TO MOVE TO KEBBI OVER SCHOOLGIRLS’ ABDUCTION
PRESIDENT TINUBU ASKS MATAWALLE, MINISTER OF STATE FOR DEFENCE, TO MOVE TO KEBBI OVER SCHOOLGIRLS’ ABDUCTION
By: Our Reporter
President Bola Tinubu has asked the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi State over the abduction of 25 schoolgirls in the state.
Matawalle, who was formerly governor of Zamfara State, was asked to remain in the state to monitor security efforts to secure the release of the abducted students.
Gunmen abducted 24 students of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town, Kebbi State, around 4 am on Monday.
Matawalle, who is expected to arrive in Birni-Kebbi on Friday, gained some experience in dealing with banditry and mass kidnapping during his tenure as governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023.
On 26 February 2021, armed bandits abducted 279 female students aged between 10 and 17 at the Government Girls Science Secondary School, a boarding school in Jangebe, in Zamfara State. The bandits released all the hostages on 2 March 2021.
President Tinubu had postponed his scheduled trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Luanda, Angola, as he awaited further security briefings on the kidnapped Kebbi schoolgirls and the attack on Christ Apostolic Church worshippers in Eruku, Kwara State.
PRESIDENT TINUBU ASKS MATAWALLE, MINISTER OF STATE FOR DEFENCE, TO MOVE TO KEBBI OVER SCHOOLGIRLS’ ABDUCTION
President Tinubu Hails Jonathan’s Eternal Covenant Of Service At Foundation’s 10th Anniversary
*Says Nigeria’s democracy thrives because of leaders who place nation above ambition
By: Our Reporter
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has praised former President Goodluck Jonathan as a guardian of democracy whose legacy extends far beyond his time in office.
The President described Jonathan as a profound lesson on life after public service, who preserved Nigeria’s democracy at a moment when it mattered most.
Speaking on Thursday during the 10th anniversary dinner of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in Abuja, President Tinubu, who was represented by his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, said the former president’s decision to establish the foundation demonstrates that “life begins anew when we leave the high offices for which we are elected.
“There can never be enough words to express the depth of our national gratitude to him,” President Tinubu said, adding that Jonathan has “remained the same guardian of our collective values since leaving office.”
The President drew a contrast between leaders who use their post-office influence destructively and those who devote themselves to serving humanity.
“Some choose a vehicle that serves only themselves, one that pursues causes capable of harming the very society that once carried them. The other group chooses a nobler path: devoting their life to the service of humanity,” he said.
President Tinubu warned that democracy across West Africa and globally has come under severe threat over the past decade, weakened by “adventurists, by extremists, by actors intoxicated by power, by those who see institutions as inconveniences and elections as formalities.”
He emphasised that Jonathan had demonstrated a crucial principle that nobody’s ambition supersedes the sovereignty of the state.
The President called for national unity and respect for democratic processes, urging Nigerians to accept electoral outcomes regardless of personal preferences.
“No matter whether our preferred candidates win or lose, we must learn to respect the wishes of those who vote differently. Because democracy offers us repeated opportunities to renew our mandates.”
President Tinubu described the foundation as a template for us everyone, noting that service is a continuum and that leaving office is not the end of one’s national duty but the beginning of a new chapter.
He said, “No government can succeed without the cooperation of its people, and no people can advance without a government that listens and leads with clarity. Our democracy stands because of people like former President Goodluck Jonathan. People who believe that the Nigerian state is bigger than any individual.”
The President congratulated former President Jonathan and his team, expressing hope that the foundation would continue to be a light on our path toward a more peaceful and prosperous Africa.
Earlier, former President Jonathan thanked Vice President Shettima, former President Ernest Koroma of Sierra Leone and other dignitaries for the honour of attending his Foundation’s 10th anniversary.
Recalling the incident that led to birthing of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, the former President said the focus of the foundation was prompted by his experience and challenges while in office as Nigeria’s leader.
He said over the years, the foundation has paid close attention and worked relentlessly on the issues of diplomacy, good governance, election management and promoting the development of democratic institutions.
Dr Jonathan expressed his condolences over the recent incidents of abduction and attack on citizens across the country, calling on political leaders to be more responsible to the issue plaguing the security and wellbeing of Nigerians.
In his remarks, the guest speaker, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, underscored the significance of functional democracy in Nigeria, emphasizing that the youths must be at the centre of all interventions.
He said that building a stable future for Africa must be anchored on the functionality of democratic institutions, effective youth empowerment schemes, a free press and an independent judiciary.
Dr Chambas extolled the leadership qualities of President Goodluck Jonathan, describing him as an African leader who believes in the values of true democracy and the sanctity of human lives, noting that the former president has proven his relevance even outside public office.
Also present at the event were former President of Sierra Leone, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma; former First Ladies, Dame Patience Jonathan and Hajiya Maryam Abacha; Former Secretaries to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim and Mr Boss Mustapha; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sen. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; former Governors of Imo State, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha; Sokoto, Attahiru Bafarawa; Adamawa, Boni Haruna; Plateau, Chief Jonah Jang; philantropist, Hajiya Bola Shagaya; former deputy governors; serving and former legislators; former Ministers; the Ooni of Ife, HRM, Oba Adeyey Enitan Ogunwusi, and captains of Industry, among others.
President Tinubu Hails Jonathan’s Eternal Covenant Of Service At Foundation’s 10th Anniversary
VP Shettima Departs Abuja To Represent President Tinubu At G20 Leaders’ Summit In South Africa
PRESIDENT TINUBU ASKS MATAWALLE, MINISTER OF STATE FOR DEFENCE, TO MOVE TO KEBBI OVER SCHOOLGIRLS’ ABDUCTION
President Tinubu Hails Jonathan’s Eternal Covenant Of Service At Foundation’s 10th Anniversary
Roger Federer’s Shock as DNA Results Reveal Myla and Charlene Are Not His Biological Children
THE PLIGHT OF FARIDA
POLICE CHARGE ROOMS, A MINTING PRESS
-
News2 years agoRoger Federer’s Shock as DNA Results Reveal Myla and Charlene Are Not His Biological Children
-
Opinions4 years ago
THE PLIGHT OF FARIDA
-
Opinions4 years ago
POLICE CHARGE ROOMS, A MINTING PRESS
-
News2 years agoEYN: Rev. Billi, Distortion of History, and The Living Tamarind Tree
-
News7 months agoFAILED COUP IN BURKINA FASO: HOW TRAORÉ NARROWLY ESCAPED ASSASSINATION PLOT AMID FOREIGN INTERFERENCE CLAIMS
-
ACADEMICS2 years agoA History of Biu” (2015) and The Lingering Bura-Pabir Question (1)
-
Columns2 years agoArmy University Biu: There is certain interest, but certainly not from Borno.
-
Opinions2 years agoTinubu,Shettima: The epidemic of economic, insecurity in Nigeria
