The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, ACHPR has urged the Nigerian Government to work with all state and non-state actors and continue its efforts to ensure the release of the abducted students in Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State.
The commission through its Country Rapporteur for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Honourable Commissioner Solomon Ayele Dersso, made the appeal in a press statement, where the attack was condemned.
It would be recalled that over 300 students were abducted by some gunmen on motorcycles in an all-boys Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, on Friday 11 December 2020.
On December 15, 2020, The Boko Haram terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the heinous attack and the abduction of students, initially blamed on armed groups locally known as “bandits”.
The African Commission thereby called for independent and transparent investigation into the attack on the school and the abduction of the students in order to identify the conditions that made the orchestration of such attack possible, to hold those responsible for the occurrence and perpetration of the abduction accountable.
The commission believes that such investigation would also help to institute corrective measures to prevent the recurrence of such attacks against schools in Nigeria.
The African Commission noted that the attack and violent abduction of the students constitute serious breach of various rights and freedoms enshrined in the African Charter, including the right to dignity, personal security, bodily integrity, freedom from torture or inhumane or degrading treatment, personal liberty, the right to education and the right to peace and security.
“In ratifying the African Charter, States Parties assume the primary responsibility for taking all the necessary institutional, political, and socio-economic measures to ensure the safety and security of their people from situations that threaten their life, physical and social security.
“As part of the right to education enshrined in Article 17 of the African Charter, the African Commission wishes to remind Nigeria that the African Commission’s Guidelines and Principles on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights identify safety of students at school and on their way to and from school as an important component of the right to education to be guaranteed by State Parties,” it stated.
The African Commission also expressed its solidarity with the families of the abducted students and the affected communities.
The commission expressed its willingness to support the efforts of Government and people of Nigeria for securing the freedom of the abducted students and creating conditions to prevent the recurrence of such attacks on schools and abduction of students.