Chibok girls: UNICEF tasks FG on security of school children
UNICEF has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to save schools; strengthen the security of the learning environment, for every child, especially girls. This according to the international organization, will increase the number of enrollment, retention, and completion of education.
Statistics has it that no less than 1,436 school children and 17 teachers were kidnapped from schools, while 16 school children have been killed since December 2020.
The organization made the call in Abuja on Wednesday during the 8th anniversary of the popular attack on a learning environment in Nigeria on 14 April 214, which witnessed the abduction of 276 students at Government Girls Secondary School Chibok in north-east.
The representative of UNICEF in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, said that ever since the Chibok girls saga, a series of attacks had been launched on schools and abductions of students had been carried out, which results sometimes to their deaths. And this has persistent recurrent in the last two years, especially in the northwest and north-central regions of Nigeria.
Hawkins explained: “Unsafe schools, occasioned by attacks on schools and abduction of students, are reprehensible, a brutal violation of the rights of the victims to education, and totally unacceptable. Their occurrences cut short the futures and dreams of the affected students.
“Attacks on learning institutions render the learning environment insecure and discourage parents and caregivers from sending their wards to schools, while the learners themselves become fearful of the legitimate pursuit of learning.”
He regrettably said that the trauma this incident had inflicted on the victims is not calculable and redeemable.
“Girls have particularly been targeted, exacerbating the figures of out-of-school children in Nigeria, 60 percent of whom are girls. It is a trajectory which must be halted, and every hand in Nigeria must be on deck to ensure that learning in Nigeria is not a dangerous enterprise for any child, particularly for girls,” said Hawkins.
The UN body said, a total of 11, 536 schools were closed since December 2020 due to kidnap and security issues in the country.
“These school closures have impacted the education of approximately 1.3 million children in the 2020/21 academic year. This interruption of their learning contributes to gaps in children’s knowledge and skills and may lead to the loss of approximately $3.4 billion in these children’s lifetime earnings. This, risks to further perpetuate cycles of poverty and inequality.”
The Informant247 – Naija News Today
