Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has called for an end to the
\nattacks on schools in Nigeria to prevent the country from plunging into
\n“darkness.”<\/p>\n
Atiku made the call in reaction to the abduction of an unspecified
\nnumber of undergraduates of the Federal University of Agriculture in
\nBenue State.<\/p>\n
The abduction followed the killing of five students of Greenfield
\nUniversity, Kaduna by bandits who abducted them from their school.<\/p>\n
The incidents occurred just a few months after Katsina, Niger and
\nZamfara states experienced the abduction of secondary school students by
\nbandits.<\/p>\n
In a statement titled, ‘Darkness Awaits Us If We Do Not End The Attacks
\non Our Citadels of Learning,’ Atiku renewed his call for a state of
\nemergency to be declared in the education sector and for 24 hour armed
\nguards to be posted at all schools in the affected states.<\/p>\n
He said, “The abduction of yet an unspecified number of undergraduates
\nof the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, is one
\nabduction too many.<\/p>\n
“It marks both an unacceptable escalation and an expansion of this
\nmenace, and we must not only ensure that the abducted youths are
\nrescued, but even more importantly, we must put in measures to prevent
\nfuture reoccurrences.<\/p>\n
“This must not be allowed to become our new normal. It is time for us as
\na nation to face the reality that we have an emergency on our hands. A
\ncatastrophe that must be decisively dealt with before it snowballs into
\nan existential crisis.<\/p>\n
“We must stop treating these acts of criminality with kid gloves. Enough
\nis enough! There must be the safety of lives and property in our
\ncitadels of learning.<\/p>\n
“Without it, there would be a loss of confidence in the sector, which
\nwill result in low enrolment rates in a country that is already the
\nworld headquarters for out of school children.<\/p>\n
“This is all the more reason why I have maintained in the past that
\nimpunity must give way to punitive measures. When criminals profit from
\ntheir criminality, crime will increase.<\/p>\n
“The only response from all governments in Nigeria to acts of abduction,
\nkidnapping and unlawful detention of persons ought to be to bring the
\nfull weight of the law on the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.<\/p>\n
“Once these criminals have clarity on what awaits them should they toe
\nsuch evils paths, then their audacity to commit evil will be weakened,
\nand gradually, this ugly chapter in our national life will become a
\nthing of the past.<\/p>\n
“I renew the call I made on Monday, March 15, 2021, for a state of
\nemergency to be declared in the education sector and for 24 hour armed
\nguards to be posted at all schools in the affected states.<\/p>\n
\ufffc”Yes, it is an expensive venture. Nevertheless, we must accept that
\nwhatever we invest in preserving the lives of Nigeria’s youth is worth
\nthe price, as nothing is, or can be more valuable to us than our youths,
\nwho will take up the baton after we are gone.”<\/p>\n
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has called for an end to the attacks on schools in Nigeria to prevent the country from plunging into “darkness.” Atiku made the call in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n