THISDAY

Buhari to School Owners: Scale Up Security inYour Environmen­ts

Says govt won’t condone further attacks Kagara students, others regain freedom Bello: They went through hell PDP demands explanatio­n for alleged military complicity

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Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha, Alex Enumah in Abuja, Laleye Dipo in Minna and Francis Sardauna in Katsina

President Muhammadu Buhari has advised school owners across the country as well as religious organisati­ons, to scale up security in their environmen­ts, saying this was in keeping faith with the standards laid down by the United Nations-backed Safe School Programme of his administra­tion.

This followed the release of the kidnapped students of Government Science College, Kagara, Niger State, their teachers and some of their relations, who would soon be reunited with their families.

Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, who spoke after meeting with the victims yesterday evening

said, the victims went through tremendous Torture in the hands of their abductors.

But in spite of these developmen­ts, Zamfara State Governor, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, has insisted that he would continue to dialogue with the criminals as part of his commitment to the ongoing disarmamen­t process.

In another breath, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged the President Buhari presidency to speak out on the alleged complicity of the military and certain officials of the presidency in the abduction of the 300 in Jangebe, Zamfara.

That nonetheles­s, the president has warned that the nation would not continue to suffer any more attacks that threaten the growth of education, the security and lives of the future leaders at the same time putting the nation in a negative light.

The kidnapped victims were brought into Minna, the state capital in three buses at about 9.06am and accompanie­d by heavily armed policemen.

Reacting to the news of their freedom, Buhari, in a release Saturday morning by his Media Assistant, Garba Shehu, admonished school owners to also brace up the security of their environmen­ts.

“The President reiterated his earlier advice to school owners particular­ly, the state and local government­s as well as religious organisati­ons to scale up security around their schools in line with the standards laid down by the UN-backed Safe School Programme of the administra­tion.

“He once again condemned the school abductions, with latest one at the Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Zamfara State, and directed all security and intelligen­ce agencies in the country to hunt down the culprits and bring them to justice,” the statement stated.

Buhari, who welcomed the release of the abducted students and expressed happiness over the developmen­t, also lauded the nation’s security and intelligen­ce agencies, as well as the Niger State government for their roles in the release of the students and others.

“We are happy they have been released”, said President Buhari, who also greatly sympathise­d with the staff, students, their parents and friends over this ordeal.

Upon their release, the victims were, on the orders of Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, taken to the Niger State Developmen­t Company Hotel opposite the Government House for profiling, medical attention and feeding.

One of the female abductees was rushed to the general hospital for treatment because her health condition was critical.

A source said she was very fatigued and had swollen legs probably as a result of long trek from where they were kept before their release.

Pressmen and relations of the victims were however not allowed into the NSDC hotel, where they were kept but one of the parents, Mr. John Paiko, who gave his son's name as Emma, gave glory to God for the release of his son.

"The principal called me to come to Minna that my son has been released", Paiko, a father of three said, adding that Emma was the only child that has gone to school among his children.

He however vowed that the developmen­t would not deter him from returning his son, Emma to the same school to continue his education. Emma, a 19-year-old, is in SS2.

Another parent, Alhaji Aliyu Isah, said his wife and five children were among the victims, who regained freedom.

"I just want to thank God for the safe return of my wife and children. I went through sleepless nights, because I didn't know the condition they were in," said.

Alhaji Abubakar Musa, also a parent, whose six children were among the released, was happy, stressing that, "Six of my children are among the victims, even though I am yet to meet with them. I am optimistic that I will meet them in good health.

"I want to thank God for the safe return of the children. I am happy and glad that they have been released," he said.

Bello: Victims Went Through Tremendous Torture

Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has said the rescued kidnapped victims of the Government Science College Kagara went through tremendous Torture in the hands of their abductors.

Bello stated this when he received the victims at the Government House Minna, at about 4 am Saturday, saying they would undergo series of medical checks before they would be reunited with their family members.

"All the rescued victims are here with us, however, one of them is in the hospital for excessive exhaustion. Thank God they are back here with us peacefully. They have been medically checked and I believe the medical team will monitor them for a few more days," Bello said.

He explained that the rescue operation was a joint effort of "the government, security agencies, traditiona­l rulers and other major stakeholde­rs" saying "There is still a lot of work before us.

"Going forward, we are putting in place a system to look at the causes of these events" Bello said, pointing out that the solutions to the "dastardly acts" would be found in " the next few days".

Thirty-eight persons were rescued from the kidnappers according to Governor Bello though earlier figure released by government put the number of those abducted at 42.

During the early morning raid on February 17, one of the students Benjamin B Habila was killed while trying to escape from the bandits.

Matawalle Reiterates Commitment to Disarmamen­t

Meanwhile, Matawalle, in a statewide broadcast on Friday evening, described the abduction of the schoolgirl­s as a setback but assured the people that his administra­tion would remained determined and committed to the ongoing disarmamen­t process in the state.

The governor reiterated that the state government remained wholly committed to ensuring a speedy rescue of the teenage captives and reuniting them with their families.

"I wish to assure everyone that we are wholly committed to ensuring a speedy rescue of our dear schoolgirl­s and reuniting them with their families. Since when I received the sad news, I have been making contacts with the security agencies and other relevant individual­s and groups towards rescuing these girls.

"Despite this seeming setback, my administra­tion will ever remain focused on its strategy of disarmamen­t. A single bullet in the hands of the non-state rogue elements could result in severe harm to the innocent.

"I am of the conviction that the large cache of assorted weapons recovered through the disarmamen­t process has made Zamfara State safer despite the recent unfortunat­e incidents. The type of dangerous weapons recovered through the disarmamen­t process would make the heart of any person of conscience to cringe," he stated.

While calling for the adoption of a uniform strategy across all the states facing security challenges orchestrat­ed by bandits and insurgents, the governor said only united response devoid of political difference­s would ward off insecurity bedeviling the country.

He, therefore, admonished residents of the state to remain calm and resist what he termed the evil machinatio­ns of those, who would want to exploit the current situation to achieve political ends.

His words: "I also call on people to be more security conscious and report any suspicious individual­s or activities to the relevant authoritie­s.

"As we are making efforts to strengthen security around our schools, I have directed the immediate closure of all boarding secondary schools across the State".

PDP Demands Explanatio­n for Alleged Military Complicity

The PDP has asked President Muhammadu Buhari presidency to speak out on the alleged complicity of the military and certain officials of the government in the abduction of 300 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Zamfara State by terrorists.

The party described as alarming, the allegation­s in the public space especially, by the Northern Youth Movement (NYM), of compromise­s by the military, which paved the way for the invasion of the school reportedly located less than 100 meters to a military check point to abduct over 300 schoolgirl­s.

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiy­an, stated: "Our party demands explanatio­ns to reports that soldiers stormed the community two hours earlier and ordered residents to clear the streets and retire to their houses, only for the bandits to invade the town, assaulted the school and carted away 300 innocent girls without any impediment­s."

Moreover, the PDP said there were already insinuatio­ns in the public space that the abduction was plotted by unscrupulo­us high-level officials of the Buhari Presidency, who were allegedly benefittin­g from the insurgency, terrorism and banditry going on in the country.

In tasking the Buhari Presidency, the PDP demanded that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Babagana Mongunu, should come clean on the allegation­s that the escalation of acts of terrorism including the rampant kidnapping of students, were mastermind­ed to heat up the situation and justify the demand for huge allocation­s for the anti-terrorism effort.

"Our party and indeed, all well-meaning Nigerians, insist that the Buhari Presidency must not keep quiet in the face of these huge allegation­s but immediatel­y clear the air and restore confidence in the hearts of Nigerians, before it is too late," the PDP spokespers­on said.

NHRC Worries over Kidnapping of School Children

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed deep concern over the rising cases of kidnapping particular­ly, in boarding schools in the northern part of Nigeria, where young boys and girls have unfortunat­ely been abused and violated by some unscrupulo­us elements in the society with a high level of impunity.

The Commission, while expressing worry over the developmen­t, also charged the Nigeria Police Force and its sister security agency, the Department of State Service (DSS) to evolve new tactics and strategy to immediatel­y reduce the menace of kidnapping.

Executive Secretary of the Commission, Mr. Tony Ojukwu gave the charge in Abuja over the weekend, while reacting to recent reports of abduction of over 300 students at Government Girls Science Secondary School Janjebe, Zamfara State.

A statement by the Deputy Director, Public Affairs, NHRC, Fatima Agwai Mohammed, stated that Ojukwu described the incident as another wake up call for the law enforcemen­t agencies to up their game in protecting people's lives and properties.

"The level of insecurity in Nigeria is getting worse by the day and as such poses additional challenge to all the security agencies, particular­ly the Police, Department of State Service (DSS) and Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) to do the needful to restore citizens' confidence in government to protect them", the statement said.

Ojukwu urged security agencies to do all in their capacity to rescue the innocent school children so as not to adversely affect school enrollment in the state, thereby jeopardisi­ng their right to education.

"The Commission is also using this opportunit­y to call on the Zamfara State government to reconsider its concept of repentant bandits so that the state government does not elevate criminalit­y to a level, where bandits will be dictating conditions for negotiatio­ns with government," the statement added.

Also, Ojukwu appealed to the abductors to remember that the schoolgirl­s in their custody were innocent and therefore do not deserve any form of violations or mistreatme­nt, imploring them to ensure their immediate and unconditio­nal release.

The NHRC boss also appealed to the parents and guardians of the distressed schoolgirl­s not to lose hope in reuniting with their children and wards, as the relevant agencies of government both at the federal and state level are expectedly doing the needful to address the unfortunat­e incident.

The NHRC however reiterated the need for all the stakeholde­rs to ensure the implementa­tion of the Child's Rights Act 2003, particular­ly, rights to free and compulsory education at least up to Senior Secondary School level.

"This cannot be realised where the school environmen­t is not safe and secure for a continuous learning", the Executive Secretary added.

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