A Non-Governmental Organization, Child Protection Network Nigeria (CPNN), has faulted the federal government over its inability to secure the safety of school children across the country, despite budgeting N145bn for Safe School Initiative.
The National Coordinator of the NGO, Olakunle Sanni, stated this over the weekend, at a press conference held at Penpushing Office, in Abeokuta, that the increasing rate of kidnapping of school children had become a major concern, and embarrassment to the nation.
Sanni, flanked by other members of the NGO, recalled the abduction of pupils in Ekiti and the 287 students and teachers at LEA Primary School and Government Secondary School, Kuriga, Kaduna State recently.
He noted that the fear of being kidnapped might force many pupils and students out of school, which he said might be dangerous for the future of the country.
Sanni therefore advised the FG to intensify effort in securing schools in the country, by providing necessary support, in terms of deployment of security agents and gadgets.
The CPNN National Coordinator said, “This is also not forgetting the recent event in Ekiti state where some school children were kidnapped alongside their teachers. There has been a pocket of kidnapping in some schools around the country particularly in conflict zones. This is a concern to us especially at a time when the federal government has budgeted almost N145 billion naira for safe schools to ensure that our children are safe. This is a great concern.
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“But this has not been utilized, but yet, we have not seen any significant change in the safety of our children and this has serious implications because it will lead to an increasing number of children out of school. It means that many parents will pull their children out of school when they know their children are not safe and the environment is not secure for their children.
“What this implies is that, many people will grow up to become adults uneducated and not able to contribute meaningfully in society.
“When these children are adopted and the government is not doing anything about it, it means that in the near future we are going to have another set of kidnappers and insurgents because when they are abducted they are groomed to become another Boko Haram.
“Despite the huge amount of money for DSS, Army, Police, we are not safe yet, our children are not safe. This is unacceptable. No one is talking about it. 280 children are missing and we remain silent as if nothing happened.”
He said that the NGO will be ready to offer necessary psychosocial support to rehabilitate the children back to the society.
Recall that the abductors of the students in Kaduna State had demanded N1bn as ransom before the students could be released, with March 27 as the deadline for payment.
However, President Bola Tinubu, equally made a pronouncement last Wednesday, that the FG would not pay a dime as ransom for kidnappers.
Government said it had received offers of help from the United States and other countries to secure the student’s release and was weighing the offers.
