TheCable

Amnesty International says the federal government has failed to protect schoolchildren seven years after the Chibok abduction.

Boko Haram insurgents kidnapped over 270 girls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno state on April 14, 2014.

In a statement to mark the seventh anniversary of the abduction, Osai Ojigho, director of Amnesty International Nigeria, said there is no accountability for crimes committed against children by Boko Haram and other gunmen.

Ojigho said over 600 schools have been shut for fear of abductions, as children miss out on their education.

“The Nigerian authorities’ failure to protect schoolchildren from recent attacks clearly shows that no lessons have been learned from the Chibok tragedy,” Ojigho said on Tuesday.

“The authorities’ only response to schoolchildren being targeted by insurgents and gunmen is to close schools, which is increasingly putting the right to education at risk.

“Between December 2020 and March 2021, there have been at least five reported cases of abductions in northern Nigeria. The threat of further attacks has led to the closure of about 600 schools in the region. Whatever authorities are doing to tame this tide, it is not working.

“The Nigerian authorities risk a lost generation, due to their failure to provide safe schools for children in a region already devastated by Boko Haram atrocities.

“Schooling should not be a matter of life and death. The government must demonstrate its commitment to protecting the right to education in Nigeria by properly investigating these attacks and holding those responsible to account.”