Growing abduction of school children will spike child marriage, ActionAid raises alarm

ActionAid Nigeria has raised an alarm that recent abduction of school children would lead to growing child marriage in the North.

The Non governmental organisation in a statement on the state of the nation on Thursday, said: “The rising cases of abduction of school children is alarming and will further disparage stakeholders’ efforts at reducing the rate of out-of-school children in Nigeria, particularly, the girl-child. Schools are now seemingly unsafe for girls and give parents undue justification to force their girl-child into an early marriage.”

It lamented that: “Insecurity is still on the rise in Nigeria, with many records of insurgency attacks, kidnapping, armed banditry abductions and killings, with scores of deaths both within the military and civilians, especially in the Northern and central part of the country.”

It also decried that the nation is yet to make giant strides in its poverty alleviation efforts with another five million Nigerians predicted to fall below the poverty line because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It said with the looming recession looms, poverty alleviation schemes put in place by the government have been rendered ineffective largely due to corruption, uneven distribution, and lack of accountability at different levels.

ActionAid painting a glooming picture, said Nigeria is currently using 50% of its revenue to service debts, compared to the average 17% for other African countries with little to show for it, insisting that the huge figure of the nation’s debts, there are not enough infrastructures to show for it as many Nigerians remain in abject poverty.

It lamented that: “Health workers are protesting non-payment of allowances, no stable electricity, and the state of most Nigerian roads are still deplorable.”

It recommended the overhauling and restructuring of the security architecture to create real changes and avoid putting an old wine in a new bottle; funding, equipment, boosting the morale of the men in the field among others should also be revisited.

It said community ownership is key to winning the insecurity battle as evidenced by ActionAid Nigeria and state partners Community Action Response Teams (CARTs) piloted in 24 communities in Kogi and Nasarawa state.

It also called on State Government to prioritise improved security for children in schools and a quality educational system, while advocating that security agencies should adopt intelligence, power, and non-financial negotiation to bring back the remaining 112 missing Chibok girls and Leah Shuaibu.