Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran yesterday strongly condemned the abduction of more 300 schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigeria, on April 14. The terrorist group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the abductions. It is reported that 276 remain in captivity while 53 have escaped.
In a statement, Dookeran called for the immediate release of the schoolgirls so they could be returned to their families and allowed to continue their education. He welcomed the support provided by the governments of France, the United Kingdom and the United State to assist the Nigerian authorities in their attempts to free the girls.
The minister said T&T fully endorses the statement made by the United Nations Human Rights Chief that acts of slavery and sexual slavery of girls are “crimes against humanity”. He said as a founding member of the ICC, T&T holds strongly to the view that prosecution of perpetrators of acts of violence against women and girls is a tool for durable and lasting peace.
Dookeran said T&T supports the efforts of the Government of Nigeria to ensure the safe return of the schoolgirls and joins the international community in expressing its solidarity with the families of the victims of “this inexcusable and. abhorrent deed”.