News statement on the kidnapping of the Nigerian School Girls from the office of the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson’s Special Envoy for Women, Peace and Security has strongly condemned the horrific abduction of young girls from the Chibok Government Girls Secondary School in Borno State in Nigeria.

African Union Commission is extremely concerned that about 230 young girls aged between 16- 18 years was taken from their school on the night of 14th April, 2014, and horrified that eight more girls were abducted on Monday, May 5, 2014 in the same province of Borno.

“We send our sympathy to the families of the children, and urge those who are responsible for their abduction to release them unharmed, and return them to their families, where they rightfully belong,” the news statement says in part.

African Union notices that attacks against the liberty of children and targeting schools are prohibited under international law and cannot be justified under any circumstance. Schools are and must remain places of safety and security, where children can learn and grow in peace. Girls and young women must be allowed to go to school without fear of violence and unjust treatment and exercise their rightful role as equal citizens of the world.

The Protocol to the African Charter on Human Rights and on the Rights of Women in Africa states, “every woman shall have the right to be respected as a person and to the free development of her personality.”

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