Group raises alarm over increase in students’ kidnapping

TNational Association of Seadogs ( NAS) has decried an increase in kidnapping of students across various levels of education in the countr y.

The group lamented the inability of students to learn peacefully in a safe en vironment due to the growing insecurity.

In a statement made a vailable to newsmen in Port Harcourt, at the weekend, NAS lamented that several students ha ve been kidnapped either in their schools or on their way to school, adding that many schools are without the needed infrastructure and learning materials to guarantee safe and peaceful learning.

The statement signed by the Capoon of the Abuja Chapter of NAS, Olamide Oni, noted that teachers, who are meant to teach students are not properly remunerated, disclosing that the National Union of Teachers ( NUT),

Abuja chapter, is currently on a warning strike even as the world marked the W orld International Day of Education as proclaimed by the United Nations.

Speaking further on other factors militating against education in Nigeria, Oni said: " Another area of great concern is the general state of public schools, especially in Federal Capital T erritory ( FCT). Recently, we conducted a random assessment of the state of public education in the FCT, and what we discovered wasn’t only appalling, it was unbelievable. Many of the schools visited lacked basic amenities like chairs and tables.

"There were no hygienic toilet facilities for students to use, and many of them were seen roaming around the premises when lessons were supposed to be in progress. If schools within the FCT can face such serious problems, one can only wonder what obtains in the rural areas where the government presence is often not felt."