The African Union(AU) says that the reported mass abductions by terrorists in Nigeria and other parts of Africa illustrate a pervading threat to the affected country’s stability.
The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, H.E. Moussa Mahamat Faki, revealed this in a statement tweeted by the AU on Sunday while strongly condemning the mass abduction of schoolchildren and women in Kaduna on Thursday 7 March 2024.
The abduction followed an armed attack by bandits on the village of Kuriga, in Kaduna, northwestern Nigeria.
The AU chairperson described terrorism as a despicable act that needs to stop recurring in the continent.
Faki stated,
- “The Chairperson calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the abducted children and women.
- “He affirms that this despicable act is a further illustration of the pervading threat posed by terrorism, violent extremism, and banditry to the peace and stability of the Nigerian State, the West African region, and the Continent as a whole.
More Insights
- The attack in Kaduna state is the second mass abduction in the last seven days, after Borno state.
- These terrorists, in several instances, usually demand financial ransom from the families of the abductees.
- But President Bola Tinubu has ordered the armed forces to take down the kidnappers, saying “I am confident that the victims will be rescued.”
- Amnesty International claims, mass abductions of “more than 400 displaced people in Borno state and 287 students and teachers in Kuriga Kaduna state are a shocking indictment of the authorities’ persistent failure to protect people from attacks by armed groups that have killed thousands of Nigerians in the last five years.”
- Nairametrics gathers that abductions usually bring frustration to families and also threaten the economic progression of an area.
- Based on the Terrorism(Prevention and Prohibition) Act, kidnapping remains a criminal act in Nigeria subject to stiff penalties.
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