14-Year-Old School Girl Kidnapped While Returning from School Speaks About What Happened
- Fourteen-year-old Mariam dreams of returning to school after being kidnapped along with 279 other students in Kaduna state, Nigeria, in March 2024
- Despite the government's efforts, insecurity and mass kidnappings have left millions of children out of school in northern Nigeria
- Families, like Mariam's, struggle to rebuild their lives and hope for a safer future where children can resume their education
Sitting in the doorway of her family's one-room apartment after returning from her Quranic class, 14-year-old Mariam dreams of going back to school.
Marriam said she is very sad to spend too much time out of school due to her kidnapping, but hopes to continue her education one day.
Source: Original
Mariam told BBC she was kidnapped along with at least 279 other students from her school in Kuriga, northwest Kaduna state, in March 2024.
The children were held for 17 days before being released, and they have not returned to class since then.
Insecurity and Out-of-School Children
Nigeria already has the highest number of out-of-school children globally, and insecurity and the recent rate of mass kidnappings, especially in northern Nigeria, are exacerbating the situation.
According to UNICEF, at least 18.3 million children are out of school in the West African nation, with most of them in the North, where insecurity and poverty are significant contributing factors.
A report from the organisation last year documented 19 incidents in 2022 and 2023, leading to the closure of 113 schools in the northern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe due to insecurity.
Impact on Families and Communities
The mass kidnapping in Kuriga was one of the largest school abductions in Nigeria in over a decade, since the 2014 kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls.
Mariam's father, Idris Alhassan, decided to move his family from Kuriga and vowed never to return to his hometown.
Mariam and her family now live in Rigasa, on the outskirts of the Kaduna state capital, along with other families who have fled due to insecurity across the state.
Government Efforts and Challenges
The Kaduna state government has relocated more than 300 schools due to insecurity, Governor Uba Sani confirmed.
The governor also said when he came into office in 2023, over 800 schools were closed or abandoned in the state due to insecurity.
UNICEF Representative for Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, called for more action from the government to get children like Mariam and Auwal back to the classroom.
Two Kidnapped Chibok Girls Freed
Legit.ng reported that Nigerian troops have found two former schoolgirls who were abducted by Boko Haram jihadists eight years ago, the military said Tuesday, freeing some of the last victims of the 2014 Chibok abduction.
The two women each carried babies on their laps as they were presented by the military, after captivity with militants who stormed their school in April, 2014 in northeast Nigeria in a mass kidnapping that sparked international outrage.
Major-General Christopher Musa, the military commander of troops in the region, told reporters the girls were found on June 12 and 14 in two different locations by troops.
Proofreading by James, Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.
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Source: Legit.ng
