The Senior Special Assistant to the Abia State Governor on Due Process, Dr Oluebube A. Chukwu, has described the growing wave of attacks on schools and the abduction of students across Nigeria as a grave threat to the nation’s future.
Dr Chukwu while speaking on this year’s Children’s Day celebration, condemned the trend and expressed deep concern over the worsening insecurity in schools.
The Due Process Boss noted that more than 100 students had reportedly been kidnapped within the month alone and questioned why governments at different levels had failed to secure the freedom of the victims.
He chronicled several recent incidents to include the May 15 abduction of 47 students and teachers from nursery, primary, and secondary schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State as well as the mass kidnapping of about 50 students in Borno State and other separate attacks on schools in Katsina and Zamfara States where several students and teachers were taken captive.
According to him, the continuous attacks on educational institutions go beyond the immediate pain suffered by the victims and their families, warning that the violence is creating fear and uncertainty among children and teachers nationwide.
“The Federal Government should not wait until children of prominent citizens and political elites become victims before taking decisive action to secure schools and rescue those already in captivity,” he said.
“As a Father, I feel deeply troubled imagining the trauma these innocent children are facing in the hands of their abductors.”
Dr Chukwu called on the Federal Government to use the occasion of Children’s Day to take concrete steps toward ending the crisis, ensuring the immediate release of abducted students, and restoring confidence in the nation’s security system.
He further appealed to corporate organizations, Parents-Teachers Associations (PTAs), and civil society groups to collaborate in protecting schools and safeguarding the future of Nigerian children.
