Ten years after Chibok Abduction: are women and girls safer in school?
By February 14, this year [2024], it would be exactly 10 years that 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped in Chibok, a village in North Eastern Nigeria. The world mounted intense campaigns and pressure on the governments of Nigeria to bring back the girls. The pressure spread across the world prompting action from government. Some of the girls escaped, some were released while yet others were rescued. As at July 2023, 98 of the girls are still in captivity, according to Amnesty International.
In February 2018, ISWAP kidnapped 110 girls from Dapchi, North West Nigeria. Among them was Leah Sharibu who is yet to be released.
Ten years after the brazen attack on Chibok girls, are Nigerian girls safer in schools? The answer is NO. The spate of kidnapping and abduction of women and girls has not abated in Nigeria. Between 2014 and 2023, more than 1,680 school children were kidnapped in Nigeria. The latest of this is abduction of six students and three teachers in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Nigerian schools are among the least safe in the world.
A partial list of school children kidnapping: 2014 – 2021 [Adapted from The Vanguard.]
April 14, 2014 – Chibok abduction:
276 mostly Christian female students aged from 16 to 18 were kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School at the town of Chibok in Borno State.
February 19, 2018: Dapchi School Girls, Yobe
Barely four years after the attack on Chibok, the insurgents took their onslaught to Yobe, another state in the troubled North-West region.
December 11, 2020: Kankara Boys, Katsina
On Friday, December 11, 2020 bandits took 303 students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina into captivity.
December 19, 2020: Dandume foiled kidnapping attack
Less than two days after the kidnapped Kankara students’ release, some gunmen abducted more than 80 Islamic school students in the same Katsina State.
February 17, 2021: Bandits abduct another 41 in Kagara, Niger State
Gunmen invaded a school in Niger State on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 kidnapping 41 persons.
February 26, 2021: 317 Female students abducted in Zamfara State
Less than 10 days after the bandits raided Kagara, gunmen kidnapped 317 schoolgirls from the Government Girls Science Secondary School Jangebe in Jangebe, Zamfara State.
March 11, 2021: College of Forestry, Afaka, Kaduna
The Afaka kidnapping took place on March 11, 2021, when gunmen attacked Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Igabi LGA, Kaduna State, and kidnapped 39 students just weeks after a similar attack in Jangebe, Zamfara State.
April 20, 2021: Greenfield University Kidnap
The Greenfield University kidnapping took place on April 20, 2021, when at least 20 students and two staff were kidnapped in Kasarami village, Chikun LGA, Kaduna State, during an attack by suspected armed bandits at Greenfield University. The kidnappers demanded N800 million ransom. On April 23, 2021, the kidnappers killed three of the students.
May 30, 2021: Niger Muslim school kidnap
On May 30, 2021, an armed gang abducted dozens of students from an Islamic school in Niger State.
On this sad and morbid anniversary of the unfortunate and barbaric Chibok abduction, Nyumbamani Safe House calls on all Nigerians, government agencies, international organisations to prioritise the safety of children, youths and women in Nigeria. It is the basic requirement for all forms of development, and the primary duty of government.
Busola Oluwajulugbe
[Founder, Nyumbamani Safe House]