By Infactng
Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar has warned of an impending dark days in the country if the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari does not end attacks on citadels of learning immediately.
In a press release issued earlier today, Atiku said the abduction of unspecified number of students from the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi Benue state is both an unacceptable escalation and expansion of the attacks and abductions of students from schools.
Atiku: “This must not be allowed to become our new normal. It is time for us as a nation to face the reality that we have an emergency on our hands. A catastrophe that must be decisively dealt with before it snowballs into an existential crisis.
“We must stop treating these acts of criminality with kid gloves. Enough is enough! There must be safety of lives and property in our citadels of learning, because without it, there would be loss of confidence in the sector, which will result in low enrolment rates in a country that is amongst the highest statistically for out-of-school children.”
The former vice-president berated the federal government for treating the issues of security with “kids glove” while calling for the full weight of the law “on the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.”
He also called for a state of emergency to be declared in the education sector with 24-hours security in all schools in the affected states.
“I renew the call I made on Monday, March 15, 2021, for a state of emergency to be declared on the education sector, and for 24 hour armed guards to be posted at all schools in the affected states.,” Atiku said.
Escalating insecurity
There has been an unprecedented rise in armed banditry, abductions and killings of students with over 40 people either killed or abducted in the country yesterday alone. Niger state governor, Abubakar Sani Bello said yesterday that Boko Haram elements have hoisted flags in a part of the state with over 3,000 residents displaced.
“There are over 3,000 people that have been displaced by bandits and Boko Haram elements around Munya and Shiro local governments. However, some of them have started going back to their various homes and there are some other communities that I think are safe, they can go back, but the vast majority of them will have to remain here because their towns have been taken over by bandits and Boko Haram elements,” Bello said.
He also confirmed that the attackers were Boko Haram members while calling for a concerted military operations to dislodge the insurgents: “Their wives have been seized from them and forcefully attached to Boko haram elements, I learnt they have raised their flag in Kauri, which means they have taken over the territories.
“This is what I have been engaging the Federal Government but unfortunately, it has now gotten to the state that if care is not taken not even Abuja is safe. We have been saying this for long but all efforts are now in vain. I hope the time has come now to see reasons for a very coordinated military action to take place.
“The Boko Haram elements are trying to use this place as home just like in Sambisa, well Sambisa is hundreds of kilometers away from Abuja but Kauri is less than two hours’ drive to Abuja so nobody is safe anymore, not even Abuja is safe. So this is the time to act, all hands must be on deck, we have tried our best, we have done everything we needed to do. I am conforming that we have Boko Haram elements in Niger state around Kauri, taken over the territory, they have raised their flags and taken over peoples wives by force,” the governor said.
