Hello and welcome
Today in the Kura Bari Program we are discussing the escalating number of abductions of schoolchildren by armed groups seeking ransom money.
The practice has become very common in northern Nigeria and jeopardises the future of the already educationally disadvantaged region.
Of an estimated 10.5 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, the northern region accounts for 69%, most of whom are girls.
The United Nations Children’s Fund said on the 15th of September that at least one million children in Nigeria could miss school this year because of insecurity as schools have been the main target of mass abductions.
There have been 20 school attacks recorded this year, 1, 436 pupils have been abducted, 16 schoolchildren have been killed and 200 children are still missing.
Our guests are:
• Professor Abdulkarim Ishaq, from the Department Of Continuing Education And Extension Services at the University of Maiduguri;
• Dr Mukhtar Alhaji Liman, the United Nations Children’s Fund education officer in Maiduguri; and
• Mansur Isa Buhari, a lecturer from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, and the chief editorial adviser of the Daily Star Nigeria.