The United Nations on Friday raised concerns over the recent surge in mass kidnappings in Nigeria, particularly in the northwest region, where criminal gangs continue to target schools, villages, and highways for ransom.
This comes after reports emerged of nearly 600 people, including hundreds of school children, being abducted in the past week alone.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, expressed dismay over the recurring incidents, and noted the need for investigations to ensure the perpetrators face justice. “Children have been abducted from schools and women taken while searching for firewood,” He said,
“Such horrors must not become normalised.”
He stressed that such atrocities should not be normalized, and urged Nigerian authorities to conduct prompt, thorough, and impartial investigations into the abductions.
“I urge them to also ensure prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into the abductions, and to bring those responsible to justice,” he said.
“The armed actors perpetrating these attacks must be identified and brought to account”.
“This is the necessary first step towards reining in the impunity that feeds these attacks and abductions,” He said with the believe that apprehending the offenders and bringing them to justice would end the impunity that encourages such acts of violence and kidnappings
