The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Nigeria, has asked the Federal Government to prosecute bandits for their atrocities of murder and rape committed against women and children.
Miss Cristian Munduate Cristian who is the Country Representative of UNICEF in Nigeria, made the call during a press briefing preparatory to the commemoration of World Humanitarian Day in Maiduguri on Friday.
She said it was unacceptable that governments had not acted forcefully to stop individuals who kidnapped schoolchildren, slaughtered teachers and mothers, and sexually assaulted young schoolgirls.
She called for proper strengthening of judiciary systems and warned that the barbaric act should stop so that children could go to schools without fear of being kidnapped or raped.
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She said, “So, yes it is bad. You can read these on a daily basis on the number of attacks on the community and schools. Just a couple of days ago, teachers were attacked and unfortunately, they were murdered. This aspect requires immediate action.
“It is not acceptable that bandits are not taking to courts and they have been assaulting, killing children and women; abducting and raping etc. It scares me, if there is any process, I think there is no proper punishment for these people legally.
“We have international laws and also a legal system. Of course, the country has their national laws and these laws have to be applied.”
In another report, the Niger State governor, Umar Bago, has said his administration was considering going into dialogue with bandits and terrorists who have been wreaking havoc in the state.
The governor disclosed this after meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
While appealing for collaboration between the state and federal government in restoring peace to the state, the governor noted that full military action would be activated if the non-kinetic approach fails.