With Nigeria recording the 10th mass kidnapping of students by bandits in Northwest region of the country since last December on Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari has lamented that it is already undermining efforts in boosting school enrollments in States that were adjudged educationally backward.
These mass abduction of students by bandits was a way of raising money by these terror gangs as they seek ransom payments.
The President has therefore ordered the Armed Forces of Nigeria, the Police and intelligence agencies to ensure safe and early release of all kidnapped school children in Kaduna.
On Monday Nigerians woke up with the news that bandits had stormed the Bethel Baptist High School in the South of Kaduna State, abducting 140 students.
However, Buhari, in a statement by Presidential Spokesperson, Malam Garba Shehu, expressed concern over the attacks on Kaduna and Niger States, largely targeted at students.
Buhari said there is an ongoing deployment of additional security personnel to all troubled areas.
He urged security outfits to “act swiftly” to rescue all school boys and girls in the affected states and ensure safe return.
Buhari said the disturbing incidents of kidnapping students, mostly in Northern states, was already threatening to undermine efforts in boosting school enrollments in states that were adjudged educationally backward.
He called on State governments to ensure compliance with UN-supported Safe Schools Programme, which the administration had adopted.
The President described kidnapping as cowardly and despicable, condemning it as an assault on affected families.
The mass abduction of students is particularly worrisome as out of the estimated 10.5 million out-of-school children in the country, majority come from the North, where cultural practices and economic deprivation limit children’s active participation in school, particularly females.
Targeted kidnapping of schoolchildren began in 2014 with the mass abduction of 276 female students in Chibok by Boko Haram insurgents.
This triggered the launch of the Safe Schools Initiative (SSI in 2014. Originally designed with the aid of international organizations such as UNESCO, the SSI was welcomed with local and global support, including several tens of millions of dollars pledged by a coalition of the Nigerian government, international donors and Nigerian business leaders.
To be implemented under the SSI was the plan to relocate students in high-risk areas and strategies to strengthen education in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.
The initiative also included emphasis on training of school staff to deal with emergencies and a focused extension of the initiative beyond the original scope for only the BAY States (Boko Haram mainly operate in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe States), should be examined.
But the success of the SSI is much in doubt when checked with the frequency and number of students so far abducted.
After the Chibok mass abduction of students, bandits in Northwest region popularized it. There was the mass abduction of students from Government Secondary Schools in Kagara, Niger State on February 17 and Jangebe, Zamfara State on February 26, 2021.
Also, on December 11 and 19, 2020, students were also kidnapped in Kankara, Katsina State and Mahuta village of Katsina State.
Since the beginning of 2021, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding’s (WANEP) National Early Warning System recorded 120 incidents of kidnapping with 1,181 people (including 362 children and 103 females) kidnapped between January to February.
Altogether, said WANEP, 730secondary school students in Katsina, Niger and Zamfara States were kidnapped.