President Muhammadu Buhari has reassured Nigerians and the international community of the commitment of his administration to secure the freedom of all children and other victims of abduction by terrorists.
President Buhari renewed the pledge on Monday, February 10, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at a high-level breakfast dialogue on “stop the war on children affected by armed conflicts, dividend of silencing the guns,’’ a side event during the 33rd AU summit.
This was contained in a statement issued by the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu.
President Buhari said that a number of schoolgirls from Chibok and Dapchi earlier abducted by Boko Haram have regained their freedom.
According to him, ”Let me categorically reassure you of the steadfast commitment of the government of Nigeria to ensure the freedom of all kidnapped children from the shackles of Boko Haram. “We will not relent until every child, boy, or girl, every Nigerian adult in custody of Boko Haram, is freed.
”It is for this reason that the Nigerian government has severally condemned, and is combating frontally the dreadful activities of terrorist groups like Boko Haram and the so-called Islamic State. ”Of course, the severity of these grave violations varies from country to country.
“The incidence of a single violation of children’s rights in any country is an indelible dent on the African consciousness and is to be deplored and condemned.
”To stem the tide of out-of-school children Nigeria embarked on an all-inclusive reconstruction of schools vandalized by the ravaging terrorist activities of Boko Haram while returning children are rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.
“How I will end terrorism in Nigeria – President Buhari The Nigerian leader also called on the AU peace and security council to energetically champion the strategy to stop the war on children and adopt the child protection architecture within the African peace and security architecture and the roadmap on silencing the guns.
”The call to action is now for accountability by all African States to the rights of the children caught up in wars.
”Let us stop the war on children. This is a wake-up call for us all to create the enabling environment for rooting out the impact of armed conflicts against our children across the continent.”