The recent kidnap of about 287 students, pupils and some teachers of Government Secondary School and LEA Primary School, Kuriga, Kaduna State, is heinous and condemnable. Some gunmen reportedly invaded the schools located in Kuriga area of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State on March 7, shot indiscriminately and escaped through the bush with their abducted victims.
It is unfortunate that some weeks after the dastardly incident, the victims are still in captivity. We condemn the kidnap of school children and teachers. The government and the security agencies must ensure that they are rescued without much delay.
The Kaduna incident occurred barely 24 hours after insurgents abducted 200 internally displaced women in Borno State. The women were kidnapped in Ngala, the headquarters of Gambarou Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State, while fetching firewood.
Before then, bandits invaded the Gonin-Gora in the same Chikun LGA and abducted 16 persons, prompting the residents to barricade the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway in protest against the abduction of the people. The abductors demanded the sum of N40 trillion, 11 Hilux vans and 150 motorcycles before they would release the 16 captives.
Within the same period, bandits reportedly kidnapped no fewer than 15 Tsangaya students in Gidan Bakuso area of Gada Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
In the South East, gunmen suspected to be kidnappers also attacked the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku Ozalla, in Enugu State and allegedly abducted a female deputy director of the hospital and a security man. Earlier in the year, a resident doctor was abducted by gunmen in the hospital but he later escaped.
Similarly, a lawyer was shot dead in Kogi State shortly after delivering ransom to kidnappers who abducted his cousin. In the same vein, the Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke, has raised the alarm over plans by some criminals to attack some schools and rural farm settlements in the state. Based on intelligence reports, the governor said the attacks are meant to distract the government from the implementation of the safe school initiative.
The recent escalation of abductions across the country is worrisome. It has also underscored the enormity of the country’s security challenges. Earlier abductions across the country included the April 2014 abduction of about 276 schoolgirls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State; the 2018 abduction of about 110 students of Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe State; and the December 2020 abduction of over 300 pupils of boys’ secondary school in Kankara, Katsina State. It is sad that some of the victims of these abductions are still in captivity. The government should also work hard to secure their release.
We call on the government of President Bola Tinubu to check the recent abductions of school children, teachers and other Nigerians across the country. The security situation is fast deteriorating. It has become necessary to use new strategies to fight the rising insecurity. The government may seek foreign help on how to tackle the security challenge. There is no way we can win the war against the bandits or terrorists using the same old and outdated tactics. The war against terrorism needs to be re-jigged in all fronts.
Let the battle be taken to the criminals. Rather than being on the defensive, the security agencies should be on the offensive. Efforts need to be made to fish out fifth columnists within the security system suspected to be collaborating with the criminals and deal with them accordingly.
The general insecurity is discouraging foreign investments and stifling our local manufacturing capacity. That is why some companies are leaving our shores to other safe countries. With rising insecurity, the nation’s unemployment rate is bound to increase.
It is sad that Nigeria has seemingly become a killing field. It is the duty of the government and security agencies to guarantee the security of the people. This is not the time to indulge in blame game. Kidnapping for ransom is becoming a routine and an indictment on the government. It must be discouraged. Let adequate technology be deployed in the war against terrorism, kidnapping and banditry.
Therefore, the recent call by the House of Representatives on security agencies to increase the pressure against all criminal elements across the country is timely. It is imperative that security agencies step up their efforts to protect the citizens from criminal elements. To secure all schools, let the government revive the safe school initiative.