The house of representatives has asked the federal government to rescue the abducted Ogbomoso schoolchildren and tutors “without further delay”.
The lower legislative chamber passed the resolution during
plenary on Tuesday, following the adoption of a motion of urgent public
importance sponsored by Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala, lawmaker representing Ogbomoso
north/ Ogbomoso south/Oriire federal constituency of Oyo state.
The victims were kidnapped on May 15 after gunmen attacked
Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School, Esiele;
and LA Primary School in Ogbomoso, all located in Oriire LGA.
At least 45 schoolchildren and teachers were abducted during
the attack.
On Monday, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) commenced
strike in the state, calling on the government to take urgent steps to rescue
the abducted teachers and schoolchildren.
Last week, President Bola Tinubu directed the deployment of
“a specialised security unit with advanced rescue capabilities” to secure the
release of the kidnapped pupils and tutors.
Moving the motion, Alao-Akala condemned the killing of
Michael Oyedokun, a mathematics teacher, by the abductors.
The lawmaker described the teacher’s beheading as a
“barbaric and savage act”, saying it warrants an “immediate and decisive
response from every arm of government”.
“As we sit in the comfort of this chamber, mothers in Oriire
are sleepless, fathers are broken, and children still in the hands of their
captors are crying out for a rescue that has not yet come, and that every
passing hour of their captivity is an hour of unbearable agony for families who
do not know whether their loved ones are alive or dead,” he said.
Bamidele Salam, lawmaker representing Ede north/Ede
south/Ejigbo/Egbedore federal constituency of Osun state, decried the spike in
insecurity, especially in public schools.
“The abduction of school children, which started with the
kidnapping of Chibok girls a few years ago, is becoming a trend. One of the
keys to liberating a people is education, and if that key is in the hands of
killers, then there is a problem,” he said.
“As leaders, we need to attend to this issue with a sense of
urgency. Most of the children of the leaders attend private schools, some of
them outside the country.
“The children of the poor attend public schools, but we
cannot close our eyes to the plight of the children of the poor,” he said.
He asked the government to create a special force to protect
schools nationwide.
Benedict Etanabene, a lawmaker from Delta, urged the
parliament to conclude the constitutional process of establishing state police.
The motion was unanimously adopted after Tajudeen Abbas,
speaker of the house, called for a voice vote.
Consequently, the parliament asked the federal government to
establish a permanent military base in the area to tackle the activities of
banditry across the Oyo national park and its environs.
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