A pro-education group, Save Public Education Campaign has called for the immediate rescue of the scores of pupils and teachers kidnapped on Thursday in Kaduna.
Some terrorists stormed LGEA Primary School, Kuriga (1), Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Thursday morning and kidnapped scores of pupils and teachers.
The incident reportedly happened at about 8:20 am immediately after the morning assembly.
The Save Public Education Campaign in a statement signed by its Convener, Comrade Vivian Bello on Friday said it will hold the Nigerian government and the Kaduna State government expressly responsible if anything happens to the abducted schoolchildren.
The group also demanded the immediate overhaul of the Safe-Schools-Initiative Project domiciled with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to make it effective in its mandate and that security should be immediately beefed up in and around schools across the country.
It advised that there should be an immediate mass campaign against terrorism to help the citizenry counter some of the threats to their safety and security.
It added that the incident is abhorrent, and unacceptable and must be a concern for all citizens, parents, and stakeholders in Nigeria, particularly in education and security sectors.
The statement reads in part, "The Save+Public-Education- Campaign a pro-education group celebrates women and girls on this year's occasion of International Women’s Day.
“We are however not happy that women (and men) and particularly young school children have continued to be at risk of insecurity and attacks including gender-based violence and other forms of terror and oppression.
"We are particularly saddened about the continued and indeed heightened abduction of women and girls, who have become victims of acts of terror, oppression and Violence, with the most recent being at the LEA Primary School Kuriga, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State where over 100 pupils were reportedly abducted on Thursday morning.
"Report also indicated that some of the pupils were shot at in the process.
"This is totally abhorrent, unacceptable and must be a concern for all citizens, parents, and stakeholders in Nigeria, particularly in the education and security sectors. We note that this is not the first time that women and girls around the country especially in the Northern part of Nigeria have been abducted in such brazen acts of terrorism.
"For instance, in 2014 more than 200 girls were kidnapped from school in Chibok, Borno State. In 2016, about 200 was kidnapped in a Dapchi School, Yobe State and up to this day, not all of them have been rescued and returned. Same with Leah Sharibu, one of the girls whom terrorists abducted in Dapchi and refused to release to this day.
"Clearly, it has become simply business for bandits to block highways or lay ambush and abduct students and pupils. Just this year alone, not less than 200 school children have been abducted in these acts of terror; on the 14th of January, 2024 three students of Al-Qalam University, Katsina State, were kidnapped by bandits and a ransom of 100 million was demanded before they release.
"After two months in captivity, they were released after the payment of 10 million Naira ransom for two females of the students. This underscores the crisis young women and girls are particularly facing in the circumstances. Similar incident has happened in Ekiti State and elsewhere with under-aged school children, and this is sadly with a government that professes to protect their security and wellbeing.
"The SAVE-PUBLIC-EDUCATION-CAMPAIGN is strongly calling on the Kaduna State government to take immediate steps to stop attacks on schools.
"We demand the immediate rescue of those abducted pupils, and we want to make it abundantly clear that we hold the federal government and the Kaduna State government expressly responsible if anything happens to those abducted schoolchildren.”
"We demand the immediate overhaul of the Safe-Schools-Initiative Project domiciled with the NSCDC to make it effective in its mandate and that security be immediately beefed up in and around schools across the country. We advise that there be immediate mass campaign against terrorism to help the citizenry counter some of the threats to their safety and security," the statement added.