NIGERIA: UNICEF and The Police takes action over the kidnapping of 21 teenagers in Katsina State, Nigeria.

 The Police Command in Katsina State says it is making efforts to rescue the 21 teenagers abducted from a farmland in Mairuwa, Faskari Local Government area of the state.

The victims, who are mostly between the age of 16 and 21, were kidnapped on Oct. 4, 2022.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Gambo Isa, said that the police were on the trail of the abductors.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Katsina that the victims were labourers harvesting crops on the farm when the kidnappers went away with them.

Isa, who added that seven of those abducted were girls, assured that the command was doing everything possible to get the teenagers back home safely.

ABUJA–THE United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, has tasked authorities in Nigeria to immediately rescue the 21 children recently abducted in Katsina State by gunmen.

Ms. Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, in a statement, Friday, described the action of the gunmen as reprehensible.

The terse statement read: “UNICEF is about the report of the abduction of no fewer than 21 children at a farm in Mairuwa community, Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State, north-west Nigeria".

“Confirmed reports indicate the 21 children – 17 girls and 4 boys – aged between 15 and 18, were abducted last Sunday at about 12:30 p.m. by “bandits".

“Abduction of children whether at home, at school, on the farm, or anywhere else, is reprehensible".

Children should never be the target of violence, especially by anyone who should be protecting them.

“We call on the authorities to take necessary action to rescue the abducted children and reunite them with their families unhurt, and without delay.

“UNICEF also calls on the authorities to rescue other persons reported to have been kidnapped on the farm at the same time the children were abducted.

“This tragic incident is yet an indication of the danger children face by acts perpetrated by people who should protect them.