Released students gather at the Government House with other students from the Government Science Secondary school, in Kankara, in northwestern Katsina State, Nigeria upon their release on December 18, 2020. – More than 300 Nigerian schoolboys were released on Thursday after being abducted in an attack claimed by Boko Haram, officials said, although it was unclear if any more remained with their captors (Photo by Kola SULAIMON / AFP)
In the wake of kidnapping of over 300 schoolchildren from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, Head, Education Desk, IYABO LAWAL, examines what happened to the Safe School Initiative launched in 2014, which reportedly attracted millions of dollars from donors.
The authorities could do more to secure our schools
After a six-day ordeal in the bush with their captors, 344 weary-looking schoolboys of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara returned home last Friday into the warm hands of the Katsina State government. âThese students returned barefooted,â an emotional Governor Bello Masari told President Muhammadu Buhari who visited them at the government house. The president, who spoke in Hausa without an interpreter, congratulated the children on their safe return.
While we commend the government on this speedy rescue, certain things are still unclear, especially given how tardy information management was on the whole issue. If, for instance, Boko Haram was involved, however marginally, it would mark a clear geographical expansion in its activities from its base in northeast. Whoever did it, however, the damage cannot be easily quantified. The abduction of the schoolboys has added to the climate of fear and widespread insecur
Kayode Oyero
Former Nigerian Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has described the release of over 300 schoolboys abducted from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, as wonderful news.
She also urged the government to revive the Safe School Initiative to ensure better protection for students.
Okonjo-Iweala, who is the leading candidate for the job of director-general of the World Trade Organisation, made this known on Twitter last night.
“Return of Katsina boys is wonderful news!! Time to revive the #SafeSchool initiative and implement it comprehensively to protect our children,” she tweeted.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that gunmen on motorcycles attacked the school over a week ago and abducted the students. The abduction occurred some hours after the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) arrived in Daura, Katsina for a week-long private visit.
Schools Without Guns
The number of Nigeria s charting-topping out-of-school children are on a steady increase. Currently, about 10.5 million Nigerian kids are out-of-school. One in every five of the world s out of school children is in Nigeria, according to the United Nations Children s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). Owing to sociocultural and socioeconomic factors, and other structural vulnerabilities, thousands of children in Nigeria may never attend school. The possibility of being in school is also impacted by violence and conflict.
On Friday 11th December 2020, hundreds of schoolboys were abducted in Kankara, Katsina state by armed bandits. The attack replicates the 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok by Boko Haram insurgents; about 100 of the girls are still missing. In reaction to the Kankara boys abduction, Jigawa and Zamfara state governments have closed down schools in their states.
The authorities have to do much more to secure our schools, writes Ayo Obe
Since the world was shocked by the massacre of school children at Columbine High School in 1999, the United States has seen a host of such school shootings. Some Americans think that the solution is to arm teachers so that should such an incident take place at their school, they will be able to shoot the attacker instead of cowering in cupboards. But others – Americans and a large proportion of people outside America – think that the solution is to restrict the availability of firearms (particularly assault and semi-automatic or automatic rifles) and to require background checks that oblige the would-be gun owner to prove their fitness to own such weapons, rather than waiting until they do something that justifies taking their weapons away or forbidding them to own any.