The report underscores a concerning lack of preparedness, revealing that only 37 per cent of schools across ten states have early warning systems to detect threats.

Presented under the title “Minimum Standards for Safe Schools (MSSS) Monitoring Report”  at the United Nations House in Abuja, UNICEF Nigeria’s Chief of Education, Saadhna Panday-Soobrayan, emphasized that ensuring a secure learning environment for every Nigerian child remains an ongoing challenge.

Over the past decade, conflict-related violence has resulted in over 1,680 abductions, 180 deaths, and numerous attacks on schools, leaving a devastating impact on children’s education.

Shockingly, 90 of the Chibok abductees remain in captivity, and the nation is reeling from a recent abduction in Kaduna State.

UNICEF’s recommendations stress the urgent need for enhanced protection measures for children.

Speaking at the event commemorating the Chibok abductions’ 10th anniversary, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Ms. Cristian Munduate, highlighted the imperative to address both the symptoms and root causes of the crisis, reaffirming education as a fundamental right crucial for breaking the cycle of poverty.

The report’s analysis exposes disparities in implementing safe school standards across states, with Borno State leading with 70 per cent compliance, while Kaduna and Sokoto lag significantly behind at 25 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively.

Furthermore, the report reveals concerning deficiencies in school infrastructure and preparedness for natural hazards, severely impacting children’s safety and learning.

The escalating violence has left over a million children fearful of returning to school, with thousands of schools closed due to attacks.

UNICEF’s report serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for concerted efforts at all levels to protect Nigeria’s most vulnerable population and ensure every child’s right to education in a safe environment.

The community made the demand at a press conference held at the Unity Fountain in Abuja on Sunday in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014.

On the night of April 14, 276  female students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, aged 16 to 18 and mostly Christians, were kidnapped by the fundamentalist group, Boko Haram.

Before the raid, the school had been closed for four weeks due to deteriorating security conditions, but the girls were in school to take final exams in Physics.

A few hours before the raid, residents in Chibok reportedly received phone calls from neighbouring villages, warning of the incoming attack, as they sighted convoys containing armed insurgents driving in the direction of the town.

The terrorists reportedly broke into the school, dressed in military camouflage and pretended to be soldiers of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

The attack lasted for about five hours, during which houses in Chibok were also burnt.

The development generated both national and international outcry against the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, with an advocacy group, Bring Back Our Girls, formed to raise awareness and collaborate with the families and Chibok community to demand government action on the girls.

A decade later, the fate of 89 of the girls remains uncertain, while some of them have regained freedom.

Some of the schoolgirls had escaped immediately following the incident by jumping from the trucks in which they were being transported, and others were rescued by the Nigerian Armed Forces on various occasions.

According to the Kibaku Area Development Association, some of those rescued have been in the custody of the Borno State government and are yet to be reunited with their families.

Speaking during the Abuja press conference on Sunday, the National President of the Kibaku community (otherwise known as Chibok), Dauda Iliya, decried what he termed the second captivity of the released girls by the Borno State Government.

“We demand the urgent release of the rescued girls in the custody of the Borno State government to their families and not to anybody, nor the terrorists, the so-called repentant terrorists that were in the first place their abductors.

“The girls’ consent and that of their parents and guardians were not sought before they were abducted. As such, what is the basis to seek their consent before they are allowed to be returned to their parents? We demand that we are availed all the rescued daughters at home and in school, for any organisation or group that wants to support them.

There should be no restrictions. Borno State does not hold any monopoly over them. What we understand today is that these girls are held a second time in captivity, this time, by the government.” he said.

The association also challenged the government at all levels to bring an end to the fiasco by ensuring the rescue of the remaining girls.

Iliya further faulted the Borno State Government for the ‘obnoxious marriages’ between the returnee girls and ‘the so-called repentant terrorists,’ while also threatening legal actions against the state government for referencing marriages between the released girls and the terrorists.

“On this occasion of the 10th-year commemoration of the abduction of our daughters, we strongly challenge governments at all levels, federal, state and local, to work towards bringing closure, one way or the other, to this fiasco. To do nothing in the past decade is completely unacceptable.

“We demand a formal rebuttal and apology to all the families and the community at large, for the illegal cohabitation, encouraged by the Borno State Government, by calling the terrorists their husbands, and the failures to do so may result in legal action against the Borno State Government and all its officials, who have used this insulting and demeaning terminology to describe a very ugly and painful situation 10 years too long, too painful to bear,” he said.

When contacted on Sunday, the Borno State Commissioner of Information and Internal Security, Prof. Usman Tar, said he had spoken on the issue of Chibok girls on Saturday and was not disposed to speaking further.

In a press release on Saturday, the commissioner had said 187 of the abducted girls had been rescued and reunited with their families.

He said, “We also wish to use this occasion to take stock of the rescued girls and provide an update on how the girls are coming to terms with adjusting to normal life after captivity, and efforts of the Borno State Government to sustain the momentum on the rescue of the remaining girls.

“So far, out of the 276 abducted Chibok Girls,187 have been rescued and reunited with their families. Most of the rescued girls have, over the years, been enrolled in different schools or graduated under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs. A number of the girls have been enrolled into local and foreign scholarships  or empowerment programmes. Many have since been reunited with their immediate families and are continuing to receive psychosocial support to reconcile them with normal life.

“Furthermore, 16 recently rescued girls are being rehabilitated by the Borno State Government and attending the 2nd Chance School where they learn skills in various vocations that will provide them with sustainable livelihoods, while their kids are also placed in nursery schools. Four rescued girls have voluntarily decided to return to their parents. We remain hopeful and determined that, with the combined efforts of our security forces, intelligence agencies, and community support, all abducted persons will be safely returned.”

Ngoshe, who was found with a child believed to be hers, was intercepted by the troops while on patrol around Ngoshe in Borno State.

This is contained in a tweet posted to the Nigerian Army’s verified Twitter page, @HQNigerianArmy, on Wednesday morning.

The tweet reads, “Troops of 26 Task Force Brigade on patrol around Ngoshe in Borno State on 14 June 2022 intercepted one Mrs Mary Ngoshe and her son. She is believed to be one of the abducted girls from GGSS Chibok in 2014. Further exploitation ongoing.”

Hassana was one of over 200 schoolgirls abducted at a Government Secondary School in Chibok on April 14, 2014, by Boko Haram insurgents.

Recall that the other Chibok girl, Ruth Ngladar Pogu and a man said to be her husband had presented themselves to the Nigerian Army on July 28, 2021, at a location in Bama and were recently handed over to the governor

Ndume said the Federal Government had adopted the Borno State-owned college, following the abduction of 276 schoolgirls by the terrorists in 2014.

Ndume, who spoke with journalists in Abuja, also noted with concern that parents of the abducted schoolgirls were still living in pain without comfort since the unfortunate incident.

He said, “It is seven years since the Chibok girls were abducted. Up till today, 112 of them are not accounted for. We hear stories, but I am glad that the government issued a statement that they have not forgotten and that they are following the case. However, I want to call on the government to be giving the parents and members of the public updates, either on a monthly or quarterly basis, on the efforts that they are making so that we will know what is going on. The government should identify the parents of the remaining 112 missing girls so that, through the state government or whatever channel, the government can be in touch with them and also assist them psychologically. Also, the Federal Government, up till now, seven years after the school was destroyed, has not rebuilt it. The Federal Government took over and the Safe School Initiative, where money was set aside – big money – nobody is talking about that again. The Federal Government has not fulfilled its promise. In fact, the Borno State Government is now struggling to take back the school from the Federal Government in order to rebuild it. The road project has been in the Federal Government’s budget since I came to the National Assembly, 18 years now. The Federal Government could not finish it and that road is critical access. This is because if there is no accessibility, the military or the security agencies cannot be effective. So, these are the things we are calling on the Federal Government to look into as a matter of urgency or national importance.”

The President made this  promise at a High Level Breakfast Dialogue on ‘‘Stop the War on Children Affected by Armed Conflicts, Dividend of Silencing the Guns’’, a side event during the 33rd AU Summit.

He said “A number of schoolgirls from Chibok and Dapchi earlier abducted by Boko Haram have regained their freedom. We commend the gallant efforts of the MultiNational Joint Task Force and the partners in supporting the reintegration of the girls. Let me categorically reassure you of the steadfast commitment of the Government of Nigeria to ensure the freedom of all kidnapped children from the shackles of Boko Haram. We will not relent until every child, boy, or girl, every Nigerian adult in custody of Boko Haram, is freed! It is for this reason that the Nigerian government has severally condemned, and is combating frontally the dreadful activities of terrorist groups like Boko Haram and the so-called Islamic State.”

Cameron claimed some British troops spotted the location of the abducted Chibok girls and offered to help in rescuing them but Jonathan refused.

But the former President has put out a statement denying it. Reacting to the former Prime Minister’s claim, Jonathan in a statement released by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, said Cameron was a liar.

He said “I read the comments by former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in his new book, For the Record, in which he accused me and the Nigerian Government, which I headed, of corruption and rejecting the help of the British Government in rescuing the Chibok Girls, who were kidnapped on April 14, 2014. It is quite sad that Mr. Cameron would say this because nothing of such ever occurred. As President of Nigeria, I not only wrote letters to then Prime Minister David Cameron, I also wrote to the then US President, Barrack Obama, and the then French President, François Hollande, as well as the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appealing to them for help in rescuing the Chibok Girls. How could I write to appeal for help and then reject the very thing I appealed for? Also, history contradicts Mr. Cameron. On March 8, 2012, when the same Boko Haram linked terrorists abducted a British expatriate named Chris McManus, along with an Italian hostage Franco Lamolinara, in Sokoto, I, as Nigerian President, personally authorised a rescue effort by members of the British military Special Boat Service supported by officers and men of the Nigerian Army, to free the abducted men. So, having set a precedent like that, why would I reject British help in rescuing the Chibok Girls, if it was offered? I also authorised the secret deployment of troops from the United Kingdom, the United States and Israel as a result of the Chibok incident, so how Mr. Cameron could say this with a straight face beats me. I would urge the public to take Mr. Cameron’s accusations with a grain of salt. I will not be the first person to accuse him of lying on account of this book, and with the reactions in the UK so far, I definitely will not be the last. Moreover, on March 8, 2017, the British Government of former Prime Minister, Theresa May, in a widely circulated press statement, debunked this allegation and said there was no truth in it after Mr. Cameron had made similar statements to the Observer of the UK. In his book, Mr. Cameron failed to mention that I wrote him requesting his help on Chibok. Why did he suppress that information? I remind him that copies of that letter exist at the State Houses in Nigeria and London. He never called me on the phone to offer any help. On the contrary, I am the one that reached out to him”.

According to residents of Chibok, the sect members stormed their community at about 6pm on Saturday and started shooting sporadically.