UNICEF has called on President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime to rescue unhurt and without delay young children bandits abducted on a farm between Kamfanin Mailafiya and Kurmin Doka villages in Katsina.

The UN agency described the abduction as “reprehensible.”

In a statement on Friday, UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, stressed that the abduction of children “whether at home, at school, on the farm, or anywhere else, is reprehensible.” 

The UNICEF official noted that “children should never be the target of violence, especially by anyone who should be protecting them” and called on the authorities “to take necessary action to rescue the abducted children and reunite them with their families unhurt, and without delay.”

She added, “UNICEF also calls on the authorities to rescue other persons reported to have been kidnapped on the farm at the same time the children were abducted.”

Ms Munduate stressed that the incident “is yet an indication of the danger children face by acts perpetrated by people who should protect them.”

The statement added UNICEF “is concerned about the report of the abduction of no fewer than 21 children at a farm in Mairuwa community,” Faskari local government area. 

A resident, who said his son was kidnapped told Reuters 30 children, including 26 girls and four boys, were abducted by bandits.