UNICEF denounces that children live a “devastating reality” in Nigeria

15 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) denounced this Friday in a statement that children in Nigeria are experiencing a “devastating reality”.

Nine years have passed since the Chibok kidnappings, in which 276 female students were abducted in the middle of the night from their dormitories, and the situation has not gotten any better, as 96 girls remain captive and thousands of minors have suffered serious violations of their rights. .

According to local media reports, on April 7, 80 children were abducted by armed people in the Tsafe local government area, Zamfara state.

“The statistics are disturbing, the reality is devastating. 9 years have passed since the horrific kidnapping of the Chibok girls and yet the nightmare continues as children continue to be abducted, forcibly recruited, killed and injured. Their future is being taken away from them,” said UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate.

He added that “we cannot look the other way in the face of the suffering of Nigerian children. We must do everything in our power to ensure that they grow up in safety, with access to education and with the opportunity to realize their full potential.”

Since 2014, more than 2,400 incidents of grave violations have been verified, affecting more than 6,800 children in the northeast, including the most common being the recruitment or use of children by armed groups, with 700 verified cases, followed by kidnappings of children, with 693 incidents, and murders and mutilations, with 675 cases.

In addition, education is another of the big affected since the Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria (TCN, for its acronym in English) has reported that, between 2009 and 2022, some 2,295 teachers died in attacks, more than 19,000 teachers were displaced, more than 1,500 schools closed due to insecurity and 910 schools were destroyed.

For this reason, UNICEF has welcomed the signing by the Government of Nigeria of the transfer protocol supported by the organization itself and its commitment to invest 144 billion Nigerian nairas (about 284 million euros) in the Safe Schools Financing Plan in 2022.

The organization has explained that “it is prepared to support the Government in the implementation of this plan in order to guarantee that all children who are in the course of an armed conflict in Nigeria or who are released from armed groups are quickly reunited with their families and benefit from reintegration programs”.

The statement ended with an appeal “to all parties to the conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights laws and protect the rights and well-being of children.”