The Senate has condemned the abduction of 87 students and teachers across Borno and Oyo states within 24 hours, describing the incidents as an attack on Nigeria’s future.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, who issued the condemnation through a statement by his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs on Sunday, said the abductions were particularly troubling given that $30 million had been raised globally in 2014 to secure public and private schools across the country.
Suspected gunmen had on Friday abducted 45 students and teachers from Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, Community Grammar School and L.A Primary School in Esiele, Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Within the same period, Boko Haram terrorists attacked Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, abducting 42 students.
Bamidele, who is also Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, said the twin abductions reinforced the urgency of establishing state police, a proposal currently under consideration at the National Assembly.
According to him, the 10th National Assembly was at an advanced stage of amending the 1999 Constitution to pave the way for state police, adding that the process would soon be concluded before being transmitted to state houses of assembly for ratification.
He explained that after the National Assembly had concluded its part, the proposal would be transmitted “to the State Houses of Assembly for consideration and scrutiny, which would require a two-thirds approval before the state police could come on stream.”
He appealed to sub-national governments and legislatures to treat the state police proposal as a matter of strategic national importance, warning that it should not be subjected to partisan politics or ethno-religious considerations.
Pending the establishment of state police, Bamidele urged both federal and state governments to adopt the Safe School Initiative as a stop-gap measure, noting that Nigeria currently had 18.3 million out-of-school children.
He said the incessant abduction of students and teachers “is a tragic national concern that negates our national development indices,” adding that the National Assembly would use legislation to confront the trend when plenary resumed on June 2.
“One of such initiatives is the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution that seeks to establish state police, which is now at an advanced stage.
“Another is the amendment of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 aimed at strengthening the system of consequence in the country’s justice sector and discouraging heinous crimes nationwide,” he said.
