Dapchi 110: Time For Real Action!
Just as we were grappling with the terrible realities of the Florida school shooting and reflecting on our own tales of similar woes which we had erroneously thought were in the past; tragedy struck yet again, throwing up a feeling of déjà vu from the 2014 kidnap of 276 girls from Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State. On Monday, the 19th of February, the news of an attack on Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, broke in the media but with sketchy details. By the next day, it became clearer that some girls (students of the school) may have been kidnapped. Afterwards, unconfirmed figures were bandied around because there was no official statement from the government quarters to confirm the incident and declare the exact number of victims. The uncertainty continued until Wednesday, when the first official statement emerged via twitter from the presidency. Then, days after, (on Sunday) the number of missing girls was officially announced to be one hundred and ten. One begins to wonder, if it took the government one whole week to determine the number of the abducted girls, hope it would take less rigmarole to track and rescue the girls, or, are we in for a replay of the Chibok saga? -Just wondering.
The insecurity in our schools in recent times has become a thing of serious concern. Its prevalence in the North East is quite disturbing but, it has also happened in the South West albeit, on a smaller scale. The case of Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary School at Ikorodu area of Lagos where three girls were kidnapped in 2016 is still fresh in our minds. It happened again in 2017, when gunmen kidnapped six pupils from the Igbonla Model College, Epe area of Lagos. If it could happen in small scales in these places, it could as well happen at a larger scale and even spread to other parts of the country if nothing is done to contain this ugly trend.
The fear of the continued kidnap of teenagers from schools is palpable but even more terrifying is the fear they could get killed. Former US President, Barack Obama once said; “If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost”. The government needs to be proactive to forestall a repeat of the tales of the past. The unpalatable tales of teenage boys being killed in their sleep, in schools, is an everlasting nightmare of every parent and should be that of the government as well. How can we forget in a hurry how 59 teenage boys were brutally murdered in their sleep at the Government College in Bundi Yadi, Yobe State, and all such similar reports of the cold blooded murder of innocent teenagers, their only offence being the quest for formal education? The North East which has become a hot bed and a ‘harvest ground’ for Boko Haram, should receive the biggest attention while schools in other parts of the country should receive attention as well. No stone should be left unturned in fighting this battle before things get out of hand.
It becomes a ‘jamboree’ each time it occurs; with lots of tall talks, blame games and media frenzy, but the agonies of the victims and their immediate families, is something better imagined than experienced. And the effect of these incessant attacks on schools, especially up north, where there is a lot of government inducement for people to go to school, cannot be overemphasized. The earlier the government arrests the situation, the better for all of us. No more grandstanding and bulk passing!
Power is no blessing in itself, except when it is used to protect the innocent JONATHAN SWIFT