Rescue abducted school children

It is increasingly becoming worrisome that school children, including kids abducted by bandits in various attacks, have not been freed. It would be recalled that armed bandits attacked Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri in Kebbi State, where four teachers and dozens of students were abducted in broad daylight on Thursday, June 17, 2021. While two students were injured, a policeman was killed during the attack. The Bethel Baptist High School in Kujama, Kaduna State, suffered a similar attack on July 4, 2021, when school children were kidnapped.

Sixteen days before the Yauri attack, about 150 school children from the Salihu Tanko Islamiyyah School in Tegina town in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State were kidnapped on May 30, 2021. Following negotiations, the N200m ransom demanded by bandits was reduced to N50 million. Parents of the abducted pupils from Tegina Islamiyya School reportedly sold off their personal property, including lands to raise money. Despite receiving N30million as ransom, the abductors are still holding onto the Islamiyyah kids.

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It is worthy of note that the Kaduna and Niger State governments have consistently insisted that they will neither negotiate with bandits nor pay ransom to rescue any abductee. While some parents of abducted school children have died of shocks suffered from the development, others have been impoverished after disposing off their assets to secure the release of their children. There are unconfirmed reports that three of the kidnapped pupils died in captivity.

It is unfortunate that after over two months, the government has not been able to secure the release of these children. In fact, it appears as if the parents have been abandoned to their fate.

While this newspaper had earlier called for the release of these children, it is doing so again to emphasise the fact that it is a huge disservice to these little ones to allow them to remain in captivity.  The children are the future of tomorrow and everything ought to have been put on hold to free them. Nothing justifies the number of days they have already spent with their abductors.

It is a fact that while the Tegina school children remain in captivity, the Niger State Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Muhammed Sani Idris, was kidnapped in his home town, Baban Tunga in Tafa Local Government Area of the state and released barely three days after. Speaking on the incident, Secretary to the Government of Niger State, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, said security personnel were already on the trail of the abductors; promising that they would soon discover and rescue him unharmed. The promise was kept.

We find it difficult to understand government’s seemingly prejudiced response to kidnap cases. While abducted VIPs are rescued within days, school children are abandoned in the hands of their kidnappers.  It is also curious that despite the Niger State government’s position of not paying ransom to bandits, the commissioner was released within a matter of days. This begs the question on what method was used in securing his release and why the same method has not been used to free the Tegina children. One can only imagine the trauma these children are experiencing and the agony of the parents. We find it absurd that while the Chairman of Nigeria’s Governors’ Forum as well as the Chairman of Northern States Governors’ Forum, have respectively remained mute over the fate of the abducted school children, some political leaders are busy chasing the tracks of the 2023 general elections.

Indeed, some governors have in the past accused the federal government of not supporting their efforts in tackling security, but then, they have not done enough individually and collectively. Some even failed to meet up with their obligations towards vigilante groups or other security arrangements jointly established by governors in a geo-political zone.

We call upon the federal and state governments to work together to rescue these children. The public should also be kept abreast of the efforts being made on the issue. Concrete measures must be taken to secure schools and quickly end the current spate of banditry and kidnapping. The right of the Nigerian child to education must be protected and preserved.