Facebook Video: And yet we want to confirm the same men as ambassadors
27 students, three staff and 12 family members were abducted from the Government Science College, Kagara, State Chief Executive, Abubakar Sani Bello, has revealed just as the Senate has called on President Muhammadu Buhari, to as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency on insecurity in the country.
At a news conference shortly after a top level security meeting, which came shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari dispatched a team to the state and ordered retrieval of the students and their tenders, Bello ordered the immediate shutting down of all boarding schools in Shiroro, Rafi and Muyan Local Government Areas, the epicentre of banditry in the state.
He vowed not to pay ransom, the fuel that has driven kidnap for ransom in the country.
“When you negotiate and pay ransom to criminals, they will use the money to purchase more weapons,” he said.
The Senate’s call for a state of emergency did not come without grumbling by some that the same security and service chiefs who allowed the festering insecurity “are about to be confirmed as ambassadors by the same Senate.”
Asked to expatriate, a National Assembly source drew attention to the outburst of Senator Tolu Odebiyi in a Facebook post. (See below)
Said Odebiyi (wrongly identified as Chimaroke Nnamani in the video): “We need to be frank with ourselves, proposed appointments of the immediate past Service Chiefs as ambassadors is nothing but reward for failure because it was under them as heads of the various strategic security outfits, that the country got to this precipice of a civil war.
“We have a national crisis on our hands and this is not the time to play politics or be sentimental in any way. The former Service Chiefs didn’t do the expected as far as the worsening security situation in the country is concerned and do not in any way deserved to be compensated with ambassadorial appointments.
“There is also the need to ban open grazing in the country as well as carrying of illegal arms and ammunition by anybody or group of people.”
The Upper Legislative House condemned in very strong terms, Wednesday’s abduction of students and teachers of Government Science School, Kagara, Niger State, by bandits.
After consideration of a motion, “Abduction of Students and Teachers of Government Science School Kagara: Need for urgent action”, sponsored by Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), the Senate urged President Buhari to immediately declare a state of emergency on insecurity in the country.
The Upper Chamber also urged the President to consider and implement the recommendations of the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Nigeria’s Security Challenges dated March, 17th 2020 and Senate Resolutions therefrom, as a holistic response to the mounting security challenges across the country.
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, in his remarks, underscored the need for the military and security agencies to work in collaboration with the various state governments towards securing schools situated in the northern part of Nigeria were abduction remains predominant.
His words: “I believe that there is need for something new; a different initiative on especially how to protect our schools. And, let me be a little bit clear about the incident of abducting students from schools.
“Almost all incidents of abducting students from schools happen in northern Nigeria, and we all know how much efforts our leaders of yesterday, probably right from independence, worked so hard to ensure that children go to school in northern part of Nigeria.
“With incidents like this, we will be reversing all the gains that were made in convincing parents and wards to take their children to school.
“So, there’s need for our security agencies and government to ensure that we come up with a strategy of ensuring security in schools, because with this spate of kidnapping or abductions, definitely there’ll be that negative adverse effect on the desire and willingness of parents to allow their children to go to schools.
“And, the consequences of not going to school are better imagined in 21st century Nigeria or 21st century world.
“So, the Service Chiefs-designate have their work and take clearly cut for them. Part of what they are supposed to carry on board is how to secure our schools in addition to so many other challenges that they have to deal with.
“I believe that the states have to be carried along, because the schools belong to the states. So, that partnership and cooperation between the security agencies and the states must be adhered to, so that the states cooperate fully with security agencies of government.
“With that, the whole country will be praying and waiting for our abducted children to be returned back to their parents secured and well”, Lawan said.