Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Idiat Adebule (right) condoling with parents of some of the kidnapped students of Lagos State Model College, Igbonla, Epe, Lagos State. With her is lawmaker representing Epe Constituency II in the Lagos State House of Assembly Olusegun Olulade (second right); Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni (behind Olulade) and the school’s principal Mr. Olukorede Osidero (in tie) among others.
The rising wave of violent crimes in the country, has found expression in many unpleasant incidents. Schools and educational facilities have not been spared this menace, as reflected in the spate of kidnappings and killings involving students and their teachers. Assistant Features Editor, ENO-ABASI SUNDAY, writes that with the recent abduction of a vice principal, a teacher and four pupils, the need for a national safe school policy is looming.
Except for an infinitesimal number of elite private schools that have invested heavily in security, most schools in the country be they public or private are without any form of security arrangements.
Public schools across the country are the worst in this respect, as they are largely without basic security features like perimeter fencing, or security personnel. Where there are security personnel, they, more often than not, are aged retirees, whose capacity for swift movements, has been impaired by natural causes.
Even when the security guards are young, they are mostly incapable of understanding the advanced skills deployed by modern-day criminals, including kidnappers.
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Last week’s abduction of the Vice Principal, Lagos State Model College, Igbonla, Epe, Lagos State, Mr. A.O Oyesola, English teacher, Lukman Oyerinde and four pupils – Abu, Emmanuel Okonkwo, Jeremiah Ruth and Isaac Adebisi, has only added to the growing list of similar incidents in the recent past.
In that incident, a group of gunmen stormed the school, shot into the air to cause commotion, and thereafter abducted the vice principal, a teacher and the four pupils from the school, which is about three decades old, and located in the swampy area of the riverine town.
The abducted principal, teachers and pupils were, however, released Tuesday night by their captors.
This incident is coming after unknown gunmen in February 29, 2016, abducted three students of the Babington Macurley Junior Seminary (BMJS), Ikorodu, Lagos.
The rampaging gunmen suspected to be dislodged pipeline vandals stormed the school premises located at Agunfoye-Lugbusi village at about 8pm, and took three girls away, having gained entry into the school by breaking the perimeter fence.
On February 25, 2014, the world woke up to what represented a new nadir in the annals of savagery in human history, when Boko Haram insurgents invaded the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe State, where they slit the throat of over 40 boys, all under 16 years of age. Buni Yadi is the Headquarters of Gujba Local Council of the state.
The religious bigots also razed down 24 buildings in the school as a result of the attack.
On May 12, 2016, two Junior Secondary School (JSS) III pupils of the Federal Government College, Okposi, in Ohaozara Local Council of Ebonyi State, Tochukwu Eneh, and Chukwuemeka Ugwu, were abducted.
Tochukwu was from Obioma while Chukwuemeka hailed from Nsude, both in Udi Local Council of Enugu State.
The pupils, who had just finished their final examinations that day, were preparing to go home the next day when they were snatched.
A few days after they were declared missing, spokesman of Ebonyi State Police Command, ASP George Okafor, issued a statement saying they had been found dead. Their bodies were discovered at a bamboo grove in Ata River, about half a kilometer from the school premises.
The abduction of over 200 student of Chibok Girls’ Secondary School, which has since become an international issue, hence an albatross for the Federal Government, is still yet to be resolved, even after some of the abductees have allegedly become wives and mothers in captivity.
Cry for secured schools
The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), after a meeting of the South West Zone, which took place at Lagooz Schools, Agege, Lagos, called on the Federal Government to step up security in and around educational facilities in the country, in order to forestall loss of lives.
A release endorsed by its deputy national president, Yomi Otubela after a meeting read, “We appreciate the recent effort of the Federal Government in combating the menace imposed by the insurgents in the country. However, we want the Federal Government to also put some form of security measures around schools to protect lives of these young ones. The recent attack witnessed in Pakistan is instructive on this issue.
“NAPPS is therefore suggesting that government should make use of uniformed men to provide security around streets where schools are located. Uniformed men such as police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps etc.”
In the wake of the murder of the two students in Ebonyi, the Unity Schools Old Student Association (USOSA), also urged the Federal Government to take practical steps in its bid to curtail the incessant attacks on students of these schools.
National president of the body, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, who spoke at a press conference, recalled that: “These murders endanger education in our country, threaten our unity as a people, and undermine the very purpose of the unity schools.
“In 2013, three students of FGC Kano were killed, after Boko Haram members attacked their school and shot students randomly. Many students were injured and had to withdraw from the school. In 2014, at least 49 students of FCGC Buni-Yadi in Yobe State were killed after their school was attacked by Boko-Haram elements disguised as armed servicemen.”
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Ikenna Francis, a parent, awaits the arrival of his three kids from school daily with baited breath, in view of the porous nature of the school they attend, as well as its location.
“My kids attain a school, which is close to a motor park as well as a market. Even though it is a good school because of the quality of teachers that they have, my heart is always skipping once I get a call from the school because you cannot be sure of the type of information they are going to give to you until the message is delivered.
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