UN High commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, has expressed outrage at the recent abductions by gunmen of hundreds of people in Nigeria.

“I am appalled by the recurrent mass abductions of men, women and children in northern Nigeria.

“Children have been abducted from schools and women taken while searching for firewood. Such horrors must not become normalised,” he said in a statement on Friday.

At least 564 people have been abducted since March 7. More than 280 pupils were abducted that day from a school in Kuriga town in Kaduna State.

At least 200 others, mostly internally displaced women and children, were also abducted on March 7 in Gamboru Ngala in Borno state while reportedly searching for firewood.

Two days later, gunmen stormed a boarding school in Gidan Bakuso village in Sokoto state and abducted at least 15 pupils.

On March 12, about 69 people were abducted in two raids on a village in the Kajuru area of Kaduna state.

“I acknowledge the Nigerian authorities’ announcement that they are taking action to safely locate the missing children and reunite them with their families.

“I urge them to also ensure prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into the abductions and to bring those responsible to justice,” the UN rights chief said.

He called for perpetrators to be identified and brought to account – in compliance with international human rights law – “as a first step towards reining in the impunity that feeds these attacks and abductions.”

(NAN)