Chibok Abduction: One Million People Have Signed Petitions – Gordon Brown

Former UK Prime Minister and UN Special Envoy on Education, Mr. Gordon Brown, has announced that one million people have now signed petitions, and a month from now, on June 16, the International Day of the African Child, there will be vigils in every continent of the world for the 200 plus schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram.

“In 20 countries, young people will take over national parliaments to highlight the girls’ fate – and that of the 57 million other children who cannot go to school,” he said.
In a statement issued at the weekend, Brown said the Nigerian government and the country’s citizens deserve the fullest international support in tackling terrorism, noting: “They have been victims of a massive but under-reported effort by a few extremists to split the country.
“Two weeks ago, in Abuja, Boko Haram bombed and killed dozens. In the past four years, the group’s attacks on Nigerians have taken more than 4,000 lives, including 171 teachers massacred in separate incidents in Borno State. Only two months ago, seven teachers were assassinated, and their family members, including wives and children, were abducted.
“None of us can stand by and endlessly witness schools shut down, girls cut off from education, and parents living in fear for their daughters’ lives.
“Those who murder or abduct children should be made aware that international authorities will punish them. And, while we cannot end terrorism overnight, we can show determination to stand up to it by making schools safe. Every child is precious, and every child deserves the right to learn.”
He added that under the Safe Schools Initiative launched during the World Economic Forum on Africa, the promoters led by Nigerian businessmen plan to rebuild the girls’ own school in Chibok and to make the roughly 5,000 schools in northern Nigerian safe from terrorist attacks.
However, he said in the short term, Nigeria needs to make its schools safer and more secure from terrorist attacks, and a safe-schools plan is being created by the Nigerian authorities to ensure that girls no longer fear going to school in the country’s six North-east states.
“Guards, fortifications, and communications equipment must be installed. And, in the longer term, the authorities must craft a new plan to educate Nigeria’s ten million out-of-school girls and boys,” he said.