Johannesburg - Nigerian militant group Boko Haram's kidnapping of schoolgirls is both barbaric and cowardly, the Black Lawyers Association (BLA) said on Tuesday.
“The girls have nothing to do with the arrested members of Boko Haram or the Western education in Nigeria,” the association said in a statement.
More than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped from a school in Chibok in Nigeria's north-eastern state of Borno on April 14. Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the act.
Nigerian police have offered a reward of 50 million naira (about R3m) for information on their whereabouts.
Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has ruled out a swap for the girls in exchange for detained insurgents.
The BLA said it was saddened by the continued kidnappings and appealed to the kidnappers to release the girls immediately.
“The girls must be released from this inhumane and unacceptable hostage 1/8situation 3/8 without any further waste of time.”
The association called on the legal fraternity world-wide to condemn the kidnapping.
“Girls’ rights are children’s rights and children’s rights are human rights, which rights must be nurtured and protected all the times.”
Sapa