• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
    • Government
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
    • Chinese nationals jailed in Lagos

      Court Jails Nine Chinese Nationals for Cybercrime in Lagos

      ASUU

      Tackle Corruption, Institutional Decay – ASUU Charges FG

      EFCC Arraigns Bauchi Accountant General Over N8bn Fraud as Court Sentences…

      PRNigeria logo fearured image

      EFCC Arraigns Ex-Convict, Other for Naira Abuse in Lagos

      EFCC Arrests 37 Suspected Internet Fraudsters in Ilorin

  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
    • Customs Diplomacy: Nigeria, Saudi Arabia Ink Mutual Assistance Deal

      Comptroller General Nigerian Customs Bashir Adewale

      Nigeria, Belarus Forge Alliance to Combat Smuggling, Facilitate Trade

      President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and CG Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi

      Tinubu Hails Customs Boss Wale Adeniyi on Historic Election as WCO…

      WTO Lauds Nigeria Customs for Embracing Global Trade Standards

      Nigeria, Rwanda Sign Landmark Tax Treaty to Boost Cross-Border Investment

  • National
    • NELFUND

      NELFUND Warns Students Against Fake Loan Application Portal

      Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Gwabin Musa, National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and the Major General Olufemi Olatubosun Oluyede,

      Security Watchdog Hails NSA, Military for Anti-Terrorism Successes

      IGP Kayode Egbetokun Police Boss

      IGP Egbetokun: Leading the Charge for a Safer Nigeria By Danjuma…

      Police Officer

      Police Rescue 29 Captives, Arrest 3 Suspects in Kogi, Lagos, Katsina

      NDLEA arrests ex-footballer for drug trafficking

      NDLEA Arrest Ex-Nigerian Footballer, 72-Year-Old Grandma, Others Over Illicit Drugs Trafficking

    • Government
      • Tinubu Seeks Visa Waivers, Scholarships as Nigeria Establishes Diplomatic Ties with…

        Malam Yusuf Abubakar Dingyadi

        Dingyadi, PDP Chair’s Vocal Spokesperson, Resigns

        Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar

        Ambassador Tuggar’s Doctrine of Calm in a World on Fire By…

        A brief travelogue by Fredrick Nwabufo

        Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack

        18 Workers, Two MDAs Honoured as Federal Civil Service Week Ends

  • Security
    • Police Officer

      Kano Police Confirm Death of Armed Robber After Foiled Attack on…

      Nigerian Navy Personnel

      Navy Arrests Suspected Militant, Recovers Machine Gun in Bayelsa

      Police Nab Two for Cement Diversion Across Four States

      Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Gwabin Musa, National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and the Major General Olufemi Olatubosun Oluyede,

      Security Watchdog Hails NSA, Military for Anti-Terrorism Successes

      IGP Kayode Egbetokun Police Boss

      IGP Egbetokun: Leading the Charge for a Safer Nigeria By Danjuma…

  • Features
    • IGP Kayode Egbetokun Police Boss

      IGP Egbetokun: Leading the Charge for a Safer Nigeria By Danjuma…

      NDLEA Logo

      Drug Culture in Nigerian Music: When Art Imitates Harm By Arafat…

      Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar

      Ambassador Tuggar’s Doctrine of Calm in a World on Fire By…

      A brief travelogue by Fredrick Nwabufo

      WTO Lauds Nigeria Customs for Embracing Global Trade Standards

  • State
    • Police Officer

      Kano Police Confirm Death of Armed Robber After Foiled Attack on…

      Nigerian Navy Personnel

      Navy Arrests Suspected Militant, Recovers Machine Gun in Bayelsa

      Tinubu Seeks Visa Waivers, Scholarships as Nigeria Establishes Diplomatic Ties with…

      Plateau Delegation Visits Zaria Over Mangu Killings

      Anambra Police Arrest Man for Masterminding Friend’s Abduction, Collection of N5.3m…

  • Event
    • NELFUND

      NELFUND Warns Students Against Fake Loan Application Portal

      EFCC Witness: Yahaya Bello Had No Property Dealings With EFAB

      Hon. Rukayat Motunrayo Shittu (RMS), with PRNigeria Ladies in PR I'm Abuja

      Rukayat Shittu Set to Publish Inspirational Book “Cracking the Glass Ceiling”,…

      Chief Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo

      Former Kwara Governor, Chief Adebayo, Dies at 84

      Managing Editor of Image Merchants, Mr Abdulrahman Abdulraheem, PR Expert, Celestine Achi and the Editor-in-chief, Yushau Shuaib presenting the book to PRNigeria center

      PRNigeria Commends New Book on Artificial Intelligence in Public Relations

    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Home Security Banditry and Students’ Abduction: Revisiting the ‘Safe School Initiative’
  • Security

Banditry and Students’ Abduction: Revisiting the ‘Safe School Initiative’

By
Yau Muktar
-
November 14, 2021
Armed Bandits Kidnappers
Armed Bandits Kidnappers

Banditry and Students’ Abduction: Revisiting the ‘Safe School Initiative’
By Mukhtar Ya’u Madobi
The wave at which insurgency, banditry and kidnappings are rising across Nigeria, without any sign of abating, is alarming.
These myriads of insecurity challenges have been inflicting wanton damages on political, socio-economic and educational institutions in the country.
Initially, the prime targets of kidnappers are wealthy individuals who can afford ransom of any sum to regain their freedom. But nowadays, the narrative has since dramatically changed, as individuals who live from hand to mouth have now become the targets of these blood-sucking demons.
Worse still, this heinous act has been extended to the education sector, looking at how mass abductions of students have become a norm. These students end up in the kidnappers’ den and get subjected to different form of tortures leading to premature death of some of them, while the lucky ones that survive usually go along way battling with post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) due to the horrific experience they were exposed to.
Reports have indicated that, a number of schools have come under attacks by bandits since late last year in which innocent students were horrifically abducted. Records have shown that 20 attacks had been carried out on some Nigerian schools in which about 1,436 children were abducted and 16 dead, while 200 children are still unaccounted for. It is with dismay that many schools were closed, thereby pushing the country’s education system on the cross.
Several schools in Northern Nigeria have been raided by bandits in which mass students were abducted. Notable among include Government Science Secondary School Kankara, Katsina State, Government Girl Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State and Government Science College, Kagara in Niger state. Bandits have also stormed and kidnapped students from tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Examples are Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka and Greenfield University both in Kaduna State.
The continuous infiltration of Nigerians schools by bandits especially in Northwestern Nigeria is pervasive and disastrous. Currently, students of Bethel Baptist High School, Kujama in Kaduna State and Federal Government College, Yauri, in Kebbi State are still being held in bandits’ camps for more than four months with a slim hope of ever regaining freedom. Meanwhile, the abducted pupils of Salihu Tanko Islamiyyah School, Tegina, in Niger state did regain their freedom in August after spending about 88days in bandits’ enclave.
It is not long ago that UNICEF raised an alarm saying that, at least 1million school children across more than 37 schools in Nigeria are afraid to return to school. According to the agency, the fears by the children was as a result of insecurity in the country, especially abductions that had taken place in some schools across the country. Reports indicated that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school-children in the world. For every five children that are not attending school globally, one of them is Nigerian. And this is mostly attributed to the danger being faced by the students in their school from the anti-educational forces.
However, the question that is still begging for answer is, what are the necessary measures taken by government towards preventing the reoccurrence of kidnappings in our schools?
Albeit, armed groups have since proliferated and became more sophisticated over the years. Henceforth, enhanced coordination between state and federal governments will surely improve the response to banditry and general insecurity. Part of this strategy should involve the use of early warning and early response systems involving the federal government, state governments, local vigilantes and community leaders.
Honestly, it will be apt, should the Federal Government return to drawing board so as to invigorate the earlier established Safe School Initiative program. The Safe School Initiative was unveiled in 2014 in Abuja during the World Economic Forum on Africa (WEFA) by the Nigerian government in collaboration with the United Nations in order to rebuild, rehabilitate and restore normalcy in the education sector. It was launched in May 2014 after the abduction of more than 270 Chibok girls from their school in Borno State.
The program was established with the aim of building community security groups to promote safe zones for education, consisting of teachers, parents, police, community leaders and young people. In the longer term, the program will further focus on bolstering the safety of schools, by providing school guards and police in partnership with Nigerian authorities, training staff as school safety officers, and providing counsellors to schools at risk of attack.
Additionally, this initiative constituted a series of research, campaign and programmatic activities in collaboration between Theirworld and the Global Business Coalition for Education to raise the profile of safe schools and learning environments in times of conflict and emergencies.
The policy had been successfully launched and recorded tremendous successes in some countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan and Latin America. Safe School Initiative offer supervision, services and teaching in saving children’s lives in the short term and help them to develop in the long term.
Presently, it is heartwarming to learnt that, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has commissioned an all-female squad mandated to safeguards schools from any harm by either bandits or kidnappers. This is part of its efforts to promote Safe School Initiative and provide full-proof security for school as directed by the federal government.
However, the Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawal has lamented that the Safe School Initiative program in Nigeria was designed to fail. This is due to the fact that the Education Ministry was not involved in the funding or application of funds for the program, as all these activities are entirely handled by the Ministry of Finance.
The time is long overdue to stem the tide of banditry and kidnappings, as Nigeria must be liberated from the hands of ‘aliens who have turned to blood-sucking demons.’ Otherwise, this will retard the bright future of our children and the country they tend to inherit.
Mukhtar wrote from Kano via [email protected]

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • Banditry
  • Safe School Initiative’
  • Students’ Abduction
  • UNICEF
Previous articlePresident Buhari Mourns the Death of Brig. Gen. Zirkusu, others
Next articleCommodore Lawal of Military Pension Board Bags ANAN Award
Yau Muktar
Yau Muktar
Xing

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Police Officer

Kano Police Confirm Death of Armed Robber After Foiled Attack on Household

Nigerian Navy Personnel

Navy Arrests Suspected Militant, Recovers Machine Gun in Bayelsa

Police Nab Two for Cement Diversion Across Four States

FACT-CHECK: Did Borno Governor Zulum’s Wife Lift Primary School Mate Out of Poverty in Viral Video?

Fact-Check: Did Saudi ‘Sleeping Prince’ Wake Up After 20 Years in a Coma?

Fact Check: Does Rat Faeces Cure Appendicitis as Claimed in Viral Video?

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Gwabin Musa, National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and the Major General Olufemi Olatubosun Oluyede,

Security Watchdog Hails NSA, Military for Anti-Terrorism Successes

IGP Kayode Egbetokun Police Boss

IGP Egbetokun: Leading the Charge for a Safer Nigeria By Danjuma S. Musa

FG Officials Arrives S’Arabia for Business Mogul Aminu Dantata’s Burial in Madinah

Police Officer

Police Rescue 29 Captives, Arrest 3 Suspects in Kogi, Lagos, Katsina

Plateau Delegation Visits Zaria Over Mangu Killings

Anambra Police Arrest Man for Masterminding Friend’s Abduction, Collection of N5.3m Ransom

Recent Posts

  • NELFUND Warns Students Against Fake Loan Application Portal
  • Kano Police Confirm Death of Armed Robber After Foiled Attack on Household
  • Navy Arrests Suspected Militant, Recovers Machine Gun in Bayelsa
  • Tinubu Seeks Visa Waivers, Scholarships as Nigeria Establishes Diplomatic Ties with Saint Lucia, OECS
  • Police Nab Two for Cement Diversion Across Four States
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
NELFUND Warns Students Against Fake Loan Application PortalKano Police Confirm Death of Armed Robber After Foiled Attack on HouseholdNavy Arrests Suspected Militant, Recovers Machine Gun in BayelsaTinubu Seeks Visa Waivers, Scholarships as Nigeria Establishes Diplomatic Ties with Saint Lucia, OECSPolice Nab Two for Cement Diversion Across Four StatesFACT-CHECK: Are Travelers in Kogi Under Attack by Armed Fulani Herdsmen?FACT-CHECK: Did Borno Governor Zulum's Wife Lift Primary School Mate Out of Poverty in Viral Video?Fact-Check: Did Saudi 'Sleeping Prince' Wake Up After 20 Years in a Coma?Fact Check: Does Rat Faeces Cure Appendicitis as Claimed in Viral Video?Security Watchdog Hails NSA, Military for Anti-Terrorism SuccessesIGP Egbetokun: Leading the Charge for a Safer Nigeria By Danjuma S. MusaISWAP Terrorists Eliminated While Planting IEDs on Borno HighwayFG Officials Arrives S'Arabia for Business Mogul Aminu Dantata’s Burial in MadinahPolice Rescue 29 Captives, Arrest 3 Suspects in Kogi, Lagos, KatsinaCustoms Diplomacy: Nigeria, Saudi Arabia Ink Mutual Assistance Deal
X whatsapp