By Kassim Omomia

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have kidnapped a traditional ruler of Wawa in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, Alhaji Mamud Aliyu.

Aliyu, the Dodo of Wawa, was abducted on Saturday night by his assailants who invaded his palace.

ThisNigeria gathered that his abductors shot sporadically into the air before wisking him away to an unknown destination.

Wawa shares border with the Republic of Benin.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Wasiu Abiodun, a deputy superindent of police, who confirmed the incident, declared that men of the command were on the trail of the kidnappers so as to rescue the monarch.

It was the same sad tale in Danmusa, Kastina State as an elder brother to the Secretary to the State Government, Kabir Muhammed, was kidnapped by gunmen.

His younger brother, Mustapha Mohammed Inuwa, is the Katsina SSG.

The Director of Press to the SSG, Abdullah Yar’adua, confirmed the abduction, saying that the senior Muhammed was taken from his Diftau residence in Danmusa Local Government Area of the state

Yar’adua also confirmed that Muhammed was taken alone, ending speculations that some other family members were kidnapped.

According to Yar’adua, the case has been reported to security agencies who are on the trail of the assailants.

Meanwhile, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dragged seven northern states and their governors to the International Criminal Court, (ICC) for failing to provide safe and enabling learning environments for children.

The action of the governors and their states, the rights group said, “amounts to crimes against humanity”.

The rights group said, “More than 10,000 schools have been reportedly closed in at least seven northern states over the fear of attack and abduction of pupils and members of staff. The states are Sokoto, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Niger and Yobe.

“An estimated 1.3 million Nigerian children have been affected by frequent raids on schools by suspected terrorists. Some 13 million Nigerian children are out of school nationwide. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), more than 1,000 students have been abducted from schools in northern Nigeria since December 2020”.

In a protest memo to the court, SERAP asked Mr. Karim Khan, the Queen’s Counsel and Prosecutor at the ICC, to investigate the growing cases of abduction of students in several parts of Northern Nigeria, closure of schools, and the persistent failure of Nigerian authorities at both the federal and state levels to end the abduction as amounting to crimes against humanity within the jurisdiction of the ICC.”

SERAP urged Khan to push for those suspected to be responsible and complicit in the crimes to be invited and tried by the ICC.

However, in the petition dated September 4, 2021 and signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the rights group explained that depriving children their right to education had severe consequences on their ability to access their fundamental rights.

The group noted that the severe and life-long harms that result from depriving children the right to education satisfied the gravity of harm threshold under the Rome Statute.”

SERAP added that investigating and declaring cases of abduction of students and closure of schools, and the failure by the authorities to provide safe and enabling learning environments as crimes against humanity would help to combat impunity, deter future human rights abuses, and improve access of the children to education in Nigeria.

The petition read in part, “The crime of abduction is not just a deprivation of a single fundamental human right, but a wholesale effort to re-engineer society and to deny children, including girls their human dignity and agency in all aspects of their lives. Lack of education for girls and women has been shown to have negative impacts on their children and family.

“The persistent failure by Nigerian authorities to end the widespread and systemic abductions, and to provide safe and enabling learning environments for children to enjoy their right to quality education amounts to crimes against humanity, which fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC.”

“While the Nigerian authorities have primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute the alleged crimes of abduction of students, they have repeatedly failed and/or neglected to do so.”

“The absence of any tangible and relevant investigation or prosecution in Nigeria suggests that the authorities are unwilling or unable to carry out genuine investigation or prosecution of those suspected to be responsible for and complicit in the abduction of students.

“The consequences of persistent abductions of students, closure of schools, and the failure to provide safe and enabling learning environments despite federal and state authorities yearly budgeting some N241.2 billion of public funds as “security votes”, are like those of the offences in article 7(1).”

“Senior government officials know well or ought to know that their failure to prevent these crimes will violate the children’s human rights and dignity”.

While the advocacy group expressed concern over the growing abduction cases in the country, it admitted that as a signatory to the Rome statute, the ICC has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Nigeria or by its nationals.

It added, “As Nigeria is a state party to the Rome Statute, the ICC has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Nigeria or by its nationals.

“SERAP therefore urges you to conclude that on the basis of available information, the acts of abduction of students and closure of schools in many parts of Northern Nigeria constitute crimes against humanity within the meaning of the Rome Statute of the ICC.

BBNaija: Peace, Tega, Michael, Boma evicted from show

“The Rome Statute in article 7 defines “crime against humanity” to include “inhumane acts causing great suffering or injury,” committed in a widespread or systematic manner against a civilian population. The common denominator of crimes against humanity is that they are grave affronts to human security and dignity.”

It therefore urged the ICC to recognize depriving children including girls of the right to education is an inhumane act under Article 7 that brings comparable suffering and harm to its victims as other crimes against humanity”.