Senate Speaks On Abduction Of 87 Students, Teachers In Oyo And Borno

According to Ireporter Online, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, expressed deep concern over the renewed targeting of schools despite years of local and international efforts to safeguard learning environments across the country.

He noted that the latest attacks were particularly disturbing given that more than $30 million was mobilized globally in 2014 to enhance security in both public and private schools following earlier mass kidnappings.

On Friday, armed assailants reportedly abducted 45 students and teachers from Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Community Grammar School, and L.A. Primary School in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. Around the same time, suspected Boko Haram insurgents attacked Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State and kidnapped 42 students.

Bamidele said the incidents underscored the urgent need to establish state police, revealing that the proposal is already at an advanced stage as part of the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.

He explained that once the National Assembly concludes work on the amendment, it will be transmitted to state Houses of Assembly for ratification. The proposal will require approval by at least two-thirds of the state legislatures before it can take effect.

The Senate leader urged governors, lawmakers and political leaders across the country to support the initiative and treat it as a national security imperative rather than a subject of political or regional division.

Pending the establishment of state police, he called on the Federal Government and state governments to strengthen the Safe School Initiative to provide immediate protection for students, teachers and educational facilities.

Bamidele warned that persistent attacks on schools are worsening Nigeria’s education crisis, noting that the country currently has an estimated 18.3 million out-of-school children.

He described the repeated kidnapping of students and teachers as a tragic national challenge that undermines the country’s development goals and pledged that the 10th National Assembly would intensify legislative action against insecurity when plenary resumes on June 2.

He also disclosed that lawmakers are considering amendments to the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 to strengthen the justice system and impose tougher consequences for violent crimes across the country.