FG MUST TAKE STEPS TO ENSURE RELEASE OF OVER 600 CHILDREN – AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Amnesty International (AI) has called on the Federal Government to secure the safe release of over 687 people who were abducted by gunmen in Borno and Kaduna states.

In Borno, suspected Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped over 400 persons including women and children from the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Gamboru Ngala, Babban Sansani, Zulum, and Arabic settlements.

Also, at least 287 schoolchildren were kidnapped after gunmen stormed the LEA Primary and Secondary School in Kuriga village of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

While reacting to the incidents in a statement on Friday, the Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, said the kidnappings are a “shocking indictment of the authorities’ persistent failure to protect people from attacks by armed groups that have killed thousands of Nigerians in the last five years”.

Amnesty wants the “Nigerian government to take all necessary measures to ensure the safe release and return of those abducted to their families.

The group took a swipe at the Nigerian government over its perceived failure to end the continuous attacks by gunmen across the country.

It argued that the latest incident has exposed the current administration as having no plan to end the spate of violence and attacks by armed groups.

According to Amnesty International, the current approach adopted by President Bola Tinubu’s administration is not working.

“The latest mass abductions clearly show President Bola Tinubu and his government have no effective plan for ending years of atrocities by armed groups and gunmen that are increasingly having a free reign across many parts of Nigeria.

“Whatever security measures are being implemented by President Tinubu and his government are clearly not working.

“Given the rising level of insecurity in Nigeria today, it is obvious that protecting lives and property is low on the list of government priorities. People should not be left to live in fear of the next attack or abduction.

The Nigerian authorities’ consistent failure to protect people is completely unacceptable and must end,” the rights group said.