Again Terrorists In Army Uniform Abduct Students In Niger; Gov Shuts Schools |The Source

By Ayodele Oni

Suspected terrorists, again, stormed Niger state Government-owned school at Kagara, and abducted a large number of students.

The incident, coming a few months after a similar operation occured in Katsina State, was said to have happened early Wednesday.

Early report indicated that the bandits, who reportedly dressed in military uniforms, stormed the school premises, which has a population of about 1000 students, overpowered the security guard, before escaping with the students.

In a melee which ensued, a student who refused to be abducted was killed on the school premises, while some  escaped from the bandits.

The state government has ordered immediate closure of boarding schools in the state.

Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello gave the directive after he met with leaders of the security agencies in the State over the embarrassing abduction of the students.

According to the Governor, who stated that parts of his State had already been taken over by terrorists, the closure of the Boarding schools was to ensure the safety of life.

In the meantime, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a military operation to rescue the abducted students.

Also, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has warned that frequent abduction of students in the Northern part of the country may force parents to withdraw their children from schools.

He gave the warning when he spoke on the motion of urgent national interest raised by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East) over the abduction of a yet-to-be-determined number of students at Government Science Secondary School, Kagara

The Senate President said, “Abduction of students from school happens in the northern part of Nigeria.

“With incidences like this, parents would be scared to take their wards to school, and the efforts of the past and by present leaders at providing education would be defeated.

“Service Chiefs have to secure the schools and have to carry the States along.”

After the debate on the motion, the Senate passed a resolution that called on President Muhammadu Buhari to rise up to challenges of insecurity in Nigeria by declaring a state of emergency.

Moving the motion, Senator Musa reported that the terrorists were said to have been wearing military dresses during the raid on the school which had a student population of not less than 1000.

Speaking on the motion, Senator Bima Enagi, who is also from Niger State, said, “We need to amend the constitution so that Governors should be Chief Security Officers of their States since the government at the centre had failed to protect the lives and properties of Nigerians.

“The Federal Government is busy giving palliative instead of creating employment, thus aggravating insecurity.”