Labour flays kidnapping of 104 college students

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has implored the Federal Government to take necessary measures to ensure the release of the kidnapped students of Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State, without causing further pain and anguish to their parents and guardians as well as the students themselves.

Acting National President of ASCSN, Comrade (Dr) Tommy Etim Okon, and the Secretary-General, Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal, said the kidnapping of the 104 students and four teachers of the college, was further proof that the security architecture in the country had continued to deteriorate.

“We call on the Federal Government to urgently rejig the security architecture in the country and ensure that there is a synergy among security agencies as well as the communities in order to improve the security situation.

“It is common knowledge that no society can develop if the government cannot guarantee the safety of lives and property of the citizens,” the union said in a statement signed by the acting president and the secretary-general.

The union regretted that after the kidnapping of the students on Thursday, the actual figure of the affected students was not known, adding regrettably that many figures were being bandied about as to the number of students.

It stated that following inventory of students in the school including those that were able to escape, the Kebbi State Government had put the number of students kidnapped at 104, the average age of which is eleven years.

The union stated that further information indicated that the terrorists had been trailed by security forces to the thick forests bordering Kebbi, Niger and Zamfara states and after a gun battle, one teacher was released at the weekend.

It lamented that innocent children were being subjected to harrowing trauma by the terrorists and that if nothing was done to check the trend, sooner or later children of school age in most communities in the country would be discouraged about the pursuit of educational careers.

The union said: “If that is allowed to happen, in future these children will not be able to compete with their counterparts from other parts of the globe. Besides, the continued kidnapping of school children will surely have devastating effects on the psyche of their parents most of whom are workers with the attendant negative impact on productivity which will affect the nation’s economy.

“This will be most unfortunate and underscores the urgent need for drastic measures to be taken by the various tiers of Governments in the country to secure the school system.”

The union called on the state governments to take up the challenge to strengthen Vigilante Groups in their states and provide them with necessary tools to confront terrorists, bandits, and kidnappers; since President Muhammadu Buhari has told the state governments and traditional rulers recently to secure their domains instead of waiting for the Federal Government.

“If the security situation in the country does not improve, foreign investors will continue to avoid coming to Nigeria to do business and so unemployment including poverty will continue to rise,” the union warned.

It added: “The self-proclaimed giant of Africa can certainly not continue to wobble like this and so the Governments at all levels must take decisive steps to address the collapsing security system in order to restore the confidence of the citizens in the country.”

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