‘Find Our Daughters Now’: AWLA Cries Out Over Kebbi Schoolgirl Abductions

Stories by Steve Aya

The African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) has issued a passionate call for the immediate rescue of the schoolgirls abducted in Kebbi State, urging both national and international bodies to intervene without delay.

The appeal follows the kidnapping of 24 students from the Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga. The organisation made its position known during the ongoing AWLA International Conference in Cotonou, Benin Republic, themed “From Margins to Mainstream: The African Woman in Unfettered Sustainable Development”.

Abiodun Kolawole, AWLA’s International Alternate Chairman for Litigation, described the abduction as a devastating reminder of Nigeria’s deepening insecurity and the heightened risks faced by schoolchildren.

“We are devastated by what happened in Kebbi. Armed men stormed a government school, where young girls were simply trying to learn. This is heartbreaking. This is unacceptable. Nigeria cannot continue to live under the constant threat of abduction and terror”, she said.

Kolawole called on the Nigerian Government, the African Union, ECOWAS, the United Nations, and international partners, to immediately join forces to secure the girls’ release.

She also appealed to media organisations to amplify the message globally, and sustain pressure for a coordinated rescue mission.

“We are using this platform to demand immediate intervention. These girls must be found. Their families are in anguish, their mothers are desperate. We need every organisation, every government, and every individual of conscience to join this call. Our children deserve protection. They deserve a future”, she stressed.