A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Director-General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), Salihu Mohammed Lukman, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to put an end to school children abduction by gunmen in the country.
Lukman who spoke in his personal capacity in a statement titled, “Poverty and Existential Problems of Nigeria,” demanded proactive measures to save the ordinary Nigerians, particularly students from bandits and kidnappers attacks.
“We may delude ourselves into all the debate based on the reckless consideration of amnesty and divisive ethnic and religious propaganda. The reality is that criminal activity of banditry, kidnappings and abduction of innocent school children are emerging to be very lucrative economic activities in the country.
“It is now a sophisticated business network with a frontend that may involve people and institutions that are least suspected. For instance, how is it possible that tens and hundreds of people would be abducted without any trace?
“Wouldn’t they pass through towns, villages and communities? Along the routes they passed, wouldn’t there be police and security posts/stations, traditional and religious leaders that could confirm suspicious movements?
“And with all these sad realities of our existential threats in the country, which is destroying our educational sector, we are debating whether we should have state police or not. Anybody debating whether or not to have state police is simply part of the problem,” he said.