Pretoria - Women, Children and People with Disabilities Minister Lulu Xingwana has called for the safe return of over 200 kidnapped girls in Nigeria.
"Our prayers and thoughts are with the people of Nigeria especially the families of the schoolgirls during this difficult time. We call on their captors not to allow any harm to befall the children and to hand over the girls to authorities so that they can be safely reunited with their families," Minister Xingwana said on Friday.
The minister’s comments follow the kidnapping of about 276 girls from their dormitory in the middle of April by Islamist militant group Boko Haram. A further eight girls were taken from a village this week.
The minister said she was concerned that innocent children now found themselves caught up in a situation that had the potential to negatively impact on their future.
She called on the Nigerian government and the international community to double efforts to secure the safe release of the girls.
The kidnapping of the schoolgirls is a serious human rights violation and a crime against humanity. It violates the rights of women and the girl child who are in most cases the biggest victims in conflict situations, noted the minister.
Minister Xingwana has sent a message of support to her Nigerian counterpart, Minister of Women Affairs Hajiya Zainab Maina, and to the families of the abducted schoolgirls.
The Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini earlier this week called on the international community, the African Union and the Nigerian government to do whatever it can to liberate the girls.
Government at the weekend said it condemned all forms and manner of terrorism and believed that terrorism, in any form and from whichever quarter, cannot be condoned.
“The South African Government would like to express its concern about the fate of [the school girls] … the South African Government calls on the perpetrators of this heinous act to release the persons immediately and refrain from harming the kidnapped persons,” said government in a statement issued by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation on Friday. – SAnews.gov.za
