Katsina Abduction: Reps tell Buhari to return Kankara, Chibok, Dapchi kidnapped children now

By Kassim Omomia

The House of Representatives has demanded that all school children kidnapped from the incident of the Chibok girls down to the recent Kankara 333 be returned safe home by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari

The action followed a resolution passed by the lawmakers when it debated a motion sponsored by 76 members, Pursuant to Order Eight, Rule 4 Matters of Urgent Public Importance, titled “Call On the Federal Government to Urgently Bring Total Control, The Attacks On Educational Institutions, Insurgency, Banditry and Kidnappings Across the Country”

The lawmakers also demanded the Federal Government to forward the Safe Schools Declaration to the National Assembly for ratification and domestication as well as expedite action on the safe return of all abducted school children, from the incidents of Chibok to the most recent one at Kankara Town in Katsina State;

Leading debate on the motion by Honorable Musa Sarkin Adar on behalf of 75 other lawmakers, the House further called on the Federal Government to review the security architecture of the country because of their seeming demonstration of diminishing returns;

They further called on the Federal Government to urgently implement the Safe Schools Declaration to protect children and teachers from attacks in schools and ensure that their education continues without hindrance at al I times; and

According to Honorable Adar, it was unacceptable and becoming worrisome that  in April, 2014, a Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State was attacked and 276 female students were kidnapped, the same incident  in February, 2014, with yet another attack whereby dozens of students were murdered at the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi in Yobe State and classrooms set on fire;

Similarly, in February, 2018, at about 5:50am, 110 school girls aged between 11-19 years were kidnapped from the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi in Yobe State, with another at Babington Junior Secondary School, Ikorodu, Lagos State, Turkish international Secondary School, isheri in Ogun State, Lagos State Senior Model College, lgbonia in Lagos State and Government Girls Secondary School, Moriki in Zamfara State;

As if that was not enough, just on Friday, December 11 2020 in a Government Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State, hundreds of the students were reportedly kidnapped by bandits, he lamented, pointing that the security operatives were overwhelmed and helpless, with the security Chiefs losing the aggregate public opinion in the country in spite of their efforts;

Honourable Adar who appeared to have made an endless lists of kidnapping, banditry, insurgency and all manner of criminal activities nationwide, noted that it was saddened that till date, about 112 Chibok school girls are still missing, with one of the Dapchi girls,’Leah Sharibu  still in captivity years after

He explained that the attacks and kidnappings have taken such a dangerous dimension that the security agencies seem to be overwhelmed, warning further that the incessant attacks on communities’ schools and in fact education itself are tragic consequences of a protracted security challenge that has left the country traumatized;

Adar said “Worried that more educational facilities are being threatened by bandits and Boko Haram, leading to the closure of most schools and depriving hundreds of thousands of children of education;

“Disturbed ‘that the security challenges in the country, particularly in the North, are ‘ backsliding into the former state of affairs before the coming of this Administration in 2015.”

He warned that the schools must remain safe places and the Federal Government must ensure that they are free from conflicts and violence, stressing that attacks on schools are a violation of humanity and basic decency, therefore ‘the Federal Government must put a stop to the senseless attacks on the hopes and dreams of a generation of children;

Flowing from these therefore, he urged federal Government to quickly ratify the March, 2019, the Safe Schools Declaration to support the protection of students, teachers and schools from attacks during times of any kind of armed conflict.