Northern women urge FG to treat Kebbi abduction as national emergency

Northern women, under the aegis of Voices for Inclusion and Equity for Women (VIEW), have urged the federal government to treat the abduction of Kebbi schoolgirls as a national emergency and not a political talking point or an issue for campaigns. About 25 students were kidnapped, while the school’s head of security was killed during […]

Northern women, under the aegis of Voices for Inclusion and Equity for Women (VIEW), have urged the federal government to treat the abduction of Kebbi schoolgirls as a national emergency and not a political talking point or an issue for campaigns.

About 25 students were kidnapped, while the school’s head of security was killed during an early-morning attack on Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Danko/Wasagu LGA of Kebbi State.

In a statement by Asmau Joda Maryam Uwais, Mairo Mandara, Aisha Oyebode, Fatima Akilu, Kadaria Ahmed, Larai Ocheja Amusan and Ier Jonathan-Ichaver, the women said the incident was a brutal indictment of the Nigerian State’s failure to protect its most vulnerable citizens.

The women’s group noted that the attack “forces us to confront an uncomfortable and devastating truth: after more than a decade of repeated tragedies that Northern Nigeria is still one of the most dangerous places in the world for a girl to pursue an education.

“Every moment these girls spend in captivity deepens their trauma and increases the danger they face. We have seen too many disappear forever. We refuse to allow the Maga abductions to become another name on the long list of girls Nigeria has failed.”