Surge in kidnappings and abductions in Nigeria worrying – Africans Risings

Africans Rising, a pan-African movement, has raised concern about the recent rise in kidnappings and abductions in Nigeria.

The movement said those acts of terror continued to jeopardize people’s security and safety, so the government must step up efforts to deal with the situation.

“We further demand justice and accountability for all the victims of kidnappings and ask the President to dismantle these criminal operations across the country and enforce stringent measures to ensure the safety of the students and all Nigerians,” said a statement issued by movement and signed by Ann Njagi, Communication and Media Lead.

Following the rescue of over 300 girls who were abducted earlier this month, the group urged the government to provide critical medical and psycho-social treatment to help the girls cope with the trauma they had experienced.

“The kidnapping that took place on Thursday, March 07, is one of the largest school mass abductions since 2021,” the statement noted.

More than 3,600 people were kidnapped in Nigeria last year, “the most ever” recorded, reports the BBC, noting that, “the country is once more being rocked by mass abductions”.

According to the Pan-African movement, all perpetrators must be pursued, arrested and dealt with according to the law.

“We further demand justice and accountability for all the victims of kidnappings.”

Various armed groups have kidnapped hundreds of people, including 287 schoolchildren, across northern Nigeria in a series of alarming attacks since late February.

The kidnappings are the latest indication of Nigeria's spiraling security crisis, as communities continue to face severe threats from Islamist insurgents like Boko Haram in the country's northeast and other criminal groups in the northwest.

GNA