UN Urges Nigeria To Take All Legal Steps To Stop Kidnapping

Illustration of the United Nations. (Wikimedia Commons/Tom Page)

JAKARTA - The United Nations on Tuesday condemned a spike in mass kidnappings in north-central Nigeria, urging authorities to take steps to stop attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice.

"We are shocked by the recent spike in mass kidnappings in central Nigeria," UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters in Geneva.

"We urge Nigerian authorities, at all levels, to take all legal steps to ensure these heinous attacks are stopped and hold those responsible", he continued.

His comments comes as the recent kidnapping of hundreds of Nigerians, including nearly 350 schoolchildren in just days, has re-triggered heated debates over the country's persistent security crisis.

"At least 402 people, mostly schoolchildren, have been kidnapped in the states of Niger, Kebbi, Kwara and Borno since November 17," Kheetan said, adding "only 88 of those reported had been released or fled from his kidnappers."

He urged "the Nigerian authorities to ensure safe repatriation for all who are still pursuing them to their families, and to prevent further kidnappings."

"They must also carry out rapid, immersive, and effective investigations into the kidnapping and bring those responsible to justice," he added.

Rising concerns about security in Africa have sparked a wave of school closures in some areas of the country.

Since extremist militants kidnapped nearly 300 students from Chibok City in northeastern Borno State more than a decade ago, Nigeria has been battling a spate of mass kidnappings, largely carried out by criminal gangs seeking ransom.

The state of Borno is also the center of an extremist uprising that has been going on for a long time and has killed more than 40,000 people since 2009.