More than 1,000 students have been kidnapped from schools in northern Nigeria since December. While most pupils ultimately have been released, some have died or been killed in captivity, according to UNICEF. For example, in September 2021 Gunmen abducted 73 students in a new school attack in northwestern Nigeria (the Government Day Secondary School located in the remote village of Kaya).
The situation remains that Nigerian students, youth, and especially women and girls are at risk. This is because of so-termed ‘bandits’ kidnapping them from schools. To understand more about the issue, Digital Journal caught up with award-winning actor, host, and filmmaker Yuval David.
Digital Journal: What have you learned about what is happening in Nigeria?
Yuval David: More than 1,000 students have been kidnapped from schools in northern Nigeria since December. The kidnappers are Islamic militants, often referred to as ‘Bandits,” and they consistently grow stronger in Nigeria. Many of the kidnapped students have been released for large ransoms of all their families have, but many are killed in captivity.
Negotiations of ransoms tend to end in killing of the hostages. The head teacher at one of the schools in Nigeria told reporters that many parents sold most of what they owned in an effort to raise funds totally more that 30 million naira (about $72,900 USD). The hostages are as young as 4 years old, and are often held for at least three months without their parents.
The greatest number of victims, hostages never to be seen again, are young girls who are raped, sold off into slavery, and forced to marry their captors.
DJ: Who is paying attention to what is going on here? Is anyone taking action?
David: Save the Children International, a non-governmental organization (NGO), has observed these attacks. The group claims the increasing cases of attacks on students has put the education system of Nigeria at extreme risk. Save The Children International stated “from January to August 2021, over 1000 children were abducted in Nigeria, with so many of them still in the hands of their abductors.”
DJ: Has the global community reacted?
David: Mercy Gichuhi, Nigerian Director of Save the Children International said “When education is under attack, a generation is attacked. Children, girls, and women are more vulnerable at times of attack, putting them at a higher risk of traumas, fear, gender-based violence, physical and sexual abuse.”
The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) stated that between 2015–2019, there were over 100 reported attacks on schools in Nigeria. The Islamist attacks increased between 2020 and 2021, which led to the closedown of many schools due to fear of being attacked.
