47 days in creek: ‘Pains of abducted students unimaginable’

CP Lagos Fatai Owoseni

The Safe Schools and Communities Advocacy Group (SSCAG) yesterday said it was difficult to fathom the pains of the parents of the six students of the Lagos State Model College, Igbonla, Epe, who were abducted 47 days ago by a gang of militant kidnappers.

Spokespersons for SSCAG, Comrade Adeola Soetan and ‘Debisi Alokolaro, in a statement, said: “The pains and pangs of the six students might be going through are impossible to imagine. We urge the Lagos State Governor to mobilize all relevant security apparatus for the purpose of giving fresh impetus to the rescue efforts of the helpless students. This responsibility cannot be left to the traumatized parents and guardians of the students.”

The students were kidnapped from their school dormitories on May 25 and since then, the police and other security operatives had been giving assurances that they were on top of the situation, but there had been no positive outcome.

The statement reads in part: “When children do not feel safe in school, the result will be a reversal of gains made in enrolment and literacy over the years. In this sense, the kidnap is also an attack on education and our collective security.”

SSCAG said it was determined to engage with the Lagos State Government and security agencies, to ensure that the children are rescued safe and sound.

“If the backlog of promises by the state government and the police was anything to go by, the children ought to have regained their freedom by now,” said SSCAG.

It added: “It is particularly worrisome that there is no information to the public and the parents as to the progress so far contrary to global best practices. While we recognize the need not to jeopardize police operations, nonetheless, we believe that a process to regularly interface with the parents and the public is crucial to build public confidence. Ultimately security is a collective responsibility.”

According to SSCAG, the Epe school kidnap and the rising spate of criminality like the Badoo cult activities and similar reign of terror across the state and country, have deepened social roots and therefore reinforce the need to address the unemployment of about 40 million youths.

SSCAG noted that the state government should desist from denying people their means of livelihood through the seizure of commercial motorcycles and the demolition of poor people’s homes, markets and mechanic villages in slums and waterfronts communities without compensation.

SSCAG stressed: “Unless we replace these anti-poor policies with those that recognize human being as the centre of society’s progress and development, those neglected and dispossessed of shelter and means of livelihood may not stop descending on society with revenge in mind.”