The operatives of Katsina Police Command has revealed they are making efforts to rescue the 21 teenagers abducted from a farmland in Mairuwa, Faskari Local Government Area, of the state.
This is contained in a statement issued by SP Gambo Isa, the command’s public relations officer, on Friday.
According to him, the victims aged between 16 and 21 were labourers harvesting crops on the farm when the kidnappers went away with them.
They were kidnapped on 4th October, 2022 and seven of those abducted were girls.
Isa assured that the command was doing everything possible to get the teenagers back home safely.
However, sources told Premium Times that 39 children were abducted.
They also said other adults were among those taken but the police said only 21 children were abducted.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has tasked authorities in Nigeria to immediately rescue the abducted children.
The UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, in a statement on Friday, described the action of the gunmen as reprehensible.
A part of the statement read thus: “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.”
“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.”
Communities in the North-west states of Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kebbi as well as Niger in North-central have been witnessing a series of terrorist attacks for years.
NAN
