The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) claims that Thursday’s abduction of 287 students at Kuriga community in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State appears to have been planned by the bandits. Bandits had stormed LEA Primary School and Government Secondary School and took away the students.
Days after the abduction, the ACF said the incident was a discomfiting reality, given the enormous public resources allocated to the security sector.
In a Saturday statement by its National Publicity Secretary Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, the ACF called on the Federal Government to go beyond perfunctory directives to the security agencies to rescue the abductees.
The forum also condemned Friday’s attack by bandits at a mosque in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of the state which left two people dead. It described the assault as a sad reminder of the unabated presence of the bandits.
As a result of the attacks, the ACF is calling on a multi-prolonged regional strategy against bandits and terrorists. According to the body, the security forces should never dither or stay on the course of plain ineptitude and ineffectiveness that characterise the current strategy to contain terrorism in Nigeria.
Furthermore, the forum demanded the immediate deployment of new measures, including the much-discussed Special Schools Security Scheme, the schools’ vigilante force, and anti-kidnapping squads among others across the terror-prone states.
Following the abduction of the students – a move that has stirred a flurry of comments – Vice President Kashim Shettima visited the community. During a meeting with leaders of the community and representatives of families of the abducted students, Shettima said the Federal Government shares their pains.
But he assured them of renewed efforts to rescue the schoolchildren and further beef up security.
The abduction of the schoolchildren is one among many mass kidnappings of students in the country. On Saturday, some bandits stormed an Islamic school in Sokoto and took away 15 students alongside a woman.
While there have been claims that the Kaduna State Government is negotiating a release of the victims, Governor Uba Sani has refuted such.
