Minister Of Education Demands Release Of Abducted Students, Teachers

The minister says the government is committed to protecting learning centres from attacks.

The Minister Of Education, Adamu Adamu, Has Frowned Upon Constant Attacks On Institutions Of Learning In The Country.

Attacks on schools have gained notoriety over the past decade with the insurgency of Boko Haram, an Islamic sect famous for its hatred of western education.

The United Nations said this week nearly 1,000 schools were destroyed by insurgents between 2009 and 2018, with 1,500 others forcefully closed, and 611 teachers killed.

The group’s most infamous school attacks took place in 2014 when terrorists killed 59 students of a boarding school in Buni Yadi, Yobe, and two months later abducted 276 students in Chibok, Borno.

The Islamic sect similarly abducted 113 students two years ago in Dapchi, Yobe before returning most of them one month later after negotiating with the government.

The latest infamous abduction took place over two weeks ago when four students of Prince Academy in Damba-Kasaya, a village in Chikun local government area of Kaduna, were abducted, alongside a teacher, by unknown gunmen.

Adamu in a statement on Wednesday, September 9, 2020 condemned attacks on schools as an infringement on the rights of students to quality education.

In commemoration of the first International Day for the Protection of Education from Attack, the minister said the Nigerian government is committed to protecting learning centres from all forms of attacks.

“As a nation, we are committed to observing relevant international conventions for the protection of schools and learning centres and facilities from attack,” he said.

The minister appealed to armed groups who are currently holding students and teachers to release them from captivity.

He urged communities to take ownership of protection of schools in their environments because they are the first-line responders when attacks happen.

He also urged security agencies to build on efforts to ensure the safety of learning centres.

Over two weeks after the students and teacher in Kaduna were abducted, the Kaduna State Police Command, and the Kaduna State government have ignored requests to provide details surrounding the abduction and efforts to get the victims back.

The Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group, formed after the Chibok incident in 2014, condemned the government’s reaction to the abduction on Monday, September 7.

“Our governments continue to repeat a pattern of cynical disregard for the lives of our citizens who show up in school in pursuit of knowledge.

“No one should ever have to choose between an education and their lives,” the group said.

BBOG called on President Muhammadu Buhari and Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to immediately redouble efforts to rescue the abducted students and their teacher.

Only days after the abduction of the students, similar attacks by gunmen in two different communities in Chikun LGA led to the death of two people, and abduction of four including a police officer and a 14-year-old girl.