Senate President Ahmad Lawan has condemned the Friday attack on Government Secondary School, Jangebe in Zamfara State where up to 300 schoolgirls were abducted.
The Deputy Minority Whip and leader of the Zamfara caucus of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the National Assembly, Senator Sahabi Alhaji Ya’u, also condemned the attack, expressing concerns that despite the peace initiative by the Zamfara State Governor with repentant bandits, with a view to giving them a lease of life, the situation had gotten worsened.
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Lawan, in a statement by his media aide Ola Awoniyi, expressed sadness and outrage that the incident happened while efforts were still being made to rescue those abducted just over a week ago at another secondary school in Kagara, Niger State.
Meanwhile Ya’u appealed to the perpetrators to immediately and unconditionally release the abducted girls and embrace dialogue.
“I am commending the initiatives of the state Governor, Hon. Mohammed Bello Matawalle, in ensuring that peace is restored in the state. The Governor is not deterred by the activities of these few elements,” Senator Ya’u said.
He urged the families of the abducted schoolgirls to remain hopeful and prayerful as the government will do all that is possible to secure the safe release of their children.
He further appealed to the bandits to choose a more profitable path by turning in their arms so that they can be re-integrated into society and live a more meaningful life.
He also expressed sadness that the peace initiative of the state governor which is already yielding positive results is now been thwarted by those who do not mean well for the state and the region.
Northern governors forum condemns abduction
The Northern Governors Forum has called for strong measures to put an end to the menace before it escalated into a monster that would inhibit educational pursuits and national aspirations.
Chairman of the forum, Pleateau state governor Simon Lalong, said, “As northern governors, we are deeply saddened by these embarrassing and unfortunate attacks on our children who are in schools to seek knowledge and build capacity to impact positively on the nation and to create a better society.
“The assault on schools where innocent and harmless students are targeted should not be condoned in any way because it has the tendency to set the nation back to ignorance and more poverty.
“The northern part of the country in particular is more educationally disadvantaged and cannot afford to have these disruptions. Enough is enough,’’ he said.
