Critical stakeholders in the education sector have expressed sadness and anger at the resurgence in the abduction of students from schools in some parts of the country by bandits and other criminals.

 

 

 

This is just as they said that they thought the nightmare of Nigerians waking up to the sad news of kidnap of students was over after a lull.

 

The stakeholders, which included parents under the aegis of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, also wondered what had become of the Safe School Initiative launched in the wake of the first mass kidnap of students in Chibok, Borno State in 2014.

 

We thought the nightmare was over — NAPTAN

The National President of NAPTAN, Alhaji Haruna Danjuma, expressed disgust at the new wave of abduction of students.

 

“We thought the nightmare was over. At least for some time, there was a lull in the occurrence of such ugly incidents. We are not happy about the development. We sent our children to go to school to learn, not to become political tools or objects of bargaining and negotiation. Happenings like this can discourage parents and learners.

 

“We call on the government to do the needful. It is the responsibility of the government to protect the lives and properties of the citizens. What has become of the Safe Schools Initiative? Have they gone to sleep? We have suggested many times that schools should be fenced, provided with security personnel, not gate men to open and close gates, the citizens becoming security- conscious and when you send something, say something.”

 

Fight insecurity as you fight to win elections — ASUU

The Lagos Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Prof. Nassir Adesola, told Vanguard Learning that the government must muster the necessary will to tackle insecurity just as politicians fight to win elections.

 

“That abduction matter is a general problem of insecurity. The government has the apparatus to tackle it, just as they fight to win elections. When they muster the political will, the problem would be solved. But it can’t be solved outside the pervading poverty, social and economic inequality that the country is being subjected to.

 

“There are far too many have-nots in the midst of abundance. People must be discouraged from finding financial succour in nefarious activities. Labour and investments must be duly rewarded. We cannot continue to pamper the political class to the detriment of the majority of our people,” he noted.

 

 

The National President of NANS, Comrade Olushola Oladoja, said the student body is heartbroken by the development.

 

“The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) is deeply shattered and unconsolably heartbroken by the devastating news of the attack on Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State, where armed assailants invaded the school premises at dawn, brutally killed the Vice-Principal, Mr. Hassan Yakubu Makuku, and abducted 25 innocent female students. (The abducted students have been released.)

 

“The tragic incident, which happened on a day globally dedicated to celebrating ‘International Students’ Day’, set aside for the celebration of students’ resilience, and the future they represent, has broken us beyond measure. The growing pattern of targeting schools across Northern Nigeria collectively underscores the urgent need for robust preventive security strategies, rather than the usual reactive measures deployed only after lives have been destroyed and families shattered. Our schools must never be playgrounds for terrorists; our daughters must never again be turned into bargaining chips in the hands of criminals.

 

Similarly, the National Public Relations Officer of NANS, Comrade Adeyemi Samson Ajasa, said: “The recent targeted assaults on academic institutions are neither isolated occurrences nor random acts of violence. They represent a deliberate and strategic offensive by criminal elements seeking to induce widespread educational displacement and institutional breakdown. The abduction of students in Kebbi State stands as a grim testament to the escalating brutality of these non-state actors.

 

“Equally alarming is the audacious invasion of a Catholic school in Niger State, a clear indication that academic environments long regarded as sanctuaries of learning have been transformed into epicenters of terror and profound insecurity.”

 

Whither Safe Schools Initiative?

The programme was launched in 2014 following the abduction of hundreds of girls in Chibok.

 

From 2014 to 2021, over $30 million was mobilised internationally. More recently, the Nigerian government announced that the National Plan for Financing Safe Schools (2023-2026) will have over N112 billion allocated for the next three years. Specifically, the FG earmarked N15 billion for the initiative in 2023.

 

It involves various stakeholders, including the Federal Government, the United Nations, and state governments, and includes initiatives like infrastructure rehabilitation, community-led security measures, relocating students from high-risk areas, and using digital platforms to monitor school safety. A National Safe School Response Coordination Centre (NSSRCC) was created.

 

Specific programmes and actions include rehabilitating security infrastructure in schools, establishing community-based security groups involving parents, teachers, and community leaders, relocating students from high-risk areas to safer schools and providing trauma counselling, providing educational support for internally displaced persons (IDPs), using digital platforms to monitor and manage school safety compliance, such as the one managed by the NSSRCC.