NBA Joins UN in Condemning Mass Kidnapping of Nigerian Students
The Nigerian Bar Association has strongly condemned the recent killing and mass abduction of citizens across Nigeria, aligning with United Nations appeals for immediate action to protect civilians and secure educational institutions from armed groups.
The NBA's reaction comes following the devastating abduction of 315 individuals in Niger State, including 303 pupils and 12 teachers taken from St Mary's Catholic School during a morning raid. This incident occurred just days after gunmen attacked a secondary school in neighbouring Kebbi State, highlighting what security experts describe as a worsening pattern of organized violence in the region.
National Security Failure Exposed
In a powerful statement titled "Abduction of 315 Students and Teachers in Niger State: A National Tragedy That Demands Immediate Action," NBA president Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, declared that the attack revealed the state's continuing failure to protect its most vulnerable citizens.
He warned that the increasing scale and frequency of mass abductions threaten to destroy public confidence in Nigeria's security institutions. "That hundreds of children and teachers could be seized and moved without immediate interception is an indictment of our national security framework," Osigwe stated emphatically.
The NBA leader further explained that communities remain traumatized and families continue to suffer anguish as authorities struggle to provide information about the victims' whereabouts.
Urgent Calls for Safe Schools Implementation
The association expressed its support for the UN's repeated appeals for Nigeria to fully implement the Safe Schools Declaration, which the government originally endorsed in 2015. This global commitment requires signatory states to protect educational facilities during conflicts and prevent the militarization of learning environments.
The NBA pressed the federal government to adopt a more assertive security strategy, demanding:
- Immediate rescue operations with regular public updates
- Mandatory armed protection for schools in vulnerable regions
- Accelerated rollout of the National Safe Schools Initiative
- Thorough investigations leading to prosecution of attackers, financiers and arms suppliers
- Nationwide audit of school security systems to establish binding safety standards
Osigwe issued a stark warning that Nigeria risks becoming one of the world's most dangerous places for children to learn if authorities fail to treat school protection as a national emergency. "Silence or delayed action at a moment like this is not neutrality; it is complicity," he declared.
Escalating Crisis in Education Security
Mass abductions for ransom have dramatically increased across Nigeria's northwest and central states since the 2014 kidnapping of more than 270 schoolgirls in Chibok by Boko Haram. Despite intensified military operations, armed groups continue to raid rural communities, attack transportation routes and target schools, often operating without consequence.
Hundreds of kidnapped students from various states remain missing, creating a deepening humanitarian and educational crisis. UN agencies report severe consequences for education, with UNICEF indicating that more than 1,600 Nigerian students have been abducted since January 2024 alone.
This alarming situation has forced dozens of schools to close and disrupted learning for thousands of children, with girls being particularly affected by the ongoing security challenges in Nigeria's educational sector.
