Attacks on educational and religious institutions have occurred often in the northern region of Nigeria since February 2021.
Over 61 children out of the more than 780 kidnapped for ransom have been held captive for more than two years.
Due to an increase in insecurity, many schools in the area were closed and are still closed.
Nine years after Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped 276 students from a girls’ secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, 98 of them are still being held hostage by the Islamic sect, according to Amnesty International.
According to accounts, the Chibok schoolgirls were kidnapped on April 14, 2014.
Political leaders, activists, feminists, and advocates were outraged by the tragedy and pressured Nigeria’s government, led by President Goodluck Jonathan, to save the girls while providing information and support.
Amnesty International added that a number of subsequent kidnappings have occurred, “revealing the utter failure of the Nigerian authorities to learn from the heartbreak of Chibok and, ultimately, to protect children”.
It further stated that several schools had been targeted since Boko Haram kidnapped the Chibok schoolgirls, with students being kidnapped, raped, killed, or forced into early marriages.
Isa Sanusi, the acting director of Amnesty International in Nigeria, claimed in a statement released on Friday, April 14, in Abuja that no credible investigation had been conducted by the Nigerian government into the security lapses that left children vulnerable to the atrocities committed by Boko Haram and gunmen.
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“Parents of the 98 Chibok schoolgirls still held by Boko Haram, as well as other children kidnapped by gunmen, are living in agony, knowing that their children are in the hands of ruthless people who subject their loved ones to chilling brutalities”. Sanusi stated.
“It is past time for the Nigerian government to take decisive action against gunmen and armed groups like Boko Haram.
“Nigeria must put measures in place to protect all children since there is no accountability for these heinous acts, which is fostering impunity.
“All those accountable for perpetrating serious abuses must be brought to justice, and the families of the missing Chibok schoolgirls must receive their children back”.
Amnesty International said at the end of March that it had spoken with five Chibok schoolgirls who had fled from Boko Haram as well as their parents.
They claimed throughout the interview that they had almost completely given up hope that the other 98 girls would ever be saved.
