More than 80 children missing after school attacks in Nigeria
A wave of militant attacks on schools in Nigeria over the past week has left more than 80 children missing, local officials and Amnesty International said Sunday, the latest incident in a long-running pattern of school abductions in the West African country. The abductions come as Nigeria’s government has been battling multiple armed groups in parts of the country where attacks have disrupted civilian life.
In northeastern Borno state, militants targeted a primary school sometime between Wednesday and Thursday, Amnesty International said. The group said the militants abducted 42 children from the Askira Uba and Chibok areas.
Amnesty also said the primary school attack took place in the village of Mussa near Sambisa Forest, describing it as a stronghold for Boko Haram and for a splinter group affiliated with Islamic State. The affiliate is identified by Amnesty as the Islamic State West Africa Province.
Amnesty said the attacks were not limited to Borno. It reported that two secondary schools in southwestern Oyo state were attacked hours apart on Friday, and that at least 40 children were abducted in those incidents. Amnesty added that such abductions are rare in that part of Oyo state.
The rights group warned that the threat of abduction is pushing children out of school. Amnesty said underage girls are being pulled from classrooms and forced into marriage by families seeking protection from school attacks.
A government official from Mussa, Peter Wabba, said on Sunday that he was told the “exact number” of children abducted in Oyo was 48. In a separate criticism, Amnesty said authorities “never fulfill promises to investigate the incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice,” adding that “Victims and their families continue to be denied access to justice.”
On Saturday, Nigeria police said it had detained suspects tied to the Oyo attack. Police spokesperson Ayanlade Olayinka told The Associated Press that three gunmen were detained, and said the suspects were identified by the community and arrested in connection with the assault in the Oriire area, about 220 kilometers (135 miles) from Lagos.
School kidnappings have become a defining element of insecurity in Nigeria, where armed groups have targeted education facilities and used abducted children to raise attention. Last year, two mass abductions from schools shocked the country, with more than 300 children taken from the northern region, analysts said.