By; AMOS TAUNA, Kaduna
The Senator representing Southern Kaduna Senatorial District, Mr Sunday Marshall Katung, has expressed concerns over the recent continued incidents of mass abduction of school children in Nigeria.
He lamented that the situation is assuming a normative pattern that is sad, reminding Nigerians of previous kidnappings that the country has faced, saying that it is worrisome, condemnable and a direct attack on the country’s educational institutions.
In a statement he personally issued yesterday, Katung said, “It portends an existential threat to our educational growth. Schools are supposed to be safe havens for learning for both students and educators and not a place of fear.”
According to him, the abduction of 287 school children and some teachers from LEA primary school, Kuriga in Chikun local government area of Kaduna State on 7th March, 2024, and the reported abduction of 87 people from Kajuru station in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Sunday, 17th March, 2024, including other isolated incidents scattered across the states leave a disgusting taste in the mouth.
He condemned the renewed spike in mass abductions and extended his sincere sympathy to Governor Uba Sani at these trying moments, while assuring the Governor that whatever form of collaboration needed to tackle the menace from his colleagues and himself in the Senate would be extended to him.
“I also extend my sympathy to the families of the victims and the victims themselves. Together, we will overcome this emerging evil,” he observed.
According to him, “This deviant and abhorrent act has no place in a decent and civilized environment like ours, and as an existential threat to the development of education, it needs to be dealt with strategically, quickly, and emphatically.
“This can be achieved when we devise a better response to these predictable incidents. And if we don’t, we will continue to deal with the aftermath of these kidnapping, banditry, and criminality unraveling in various forms in our communities.”
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