Kankara Abduction: NLC Condemns ‘Culture Of Silence’
Berates poor engagement by security agencies
BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI, ABUJA – The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday blamed porous security arrangements for the abduction of some pupils of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State.
The Labour Movement insisted that the ugly incident should not have taken place if there were adequate security precautions on ground.
According to the congress, with the common knowledge that both Katsina and Zamfara States in the Northwest, are now the epicentres of banditry in the country, the nation’s security agencies should have been better prepared for such planned attacks
The NLC said given the Chibok girls kidnap experience, the Federal and State governments should have ensured better security coverage for schools which are vulnerable, particularly male schools that presents rich recruiting grounds for bandits and terrorist fighters.
A statement by the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said the Organised labour does not accept the excuse that security personnel are stretched thin for the government inability to take necessary security initiatives to protect schools and the students.
“In our view, this abduction would not have happened, had adequate precaution been taken.
“The government and security agencies are advised to work with local communities to provide the needed security around schools round the clock.
“While such security may not face the firepower of bandits, it would at least, hold them. We similarly believe there should be rapid response teams deployed around the volatile states”, the NLC President said.
Comrade Ayuba further said; “Although we do not count ourselves as security experts, we are surprised that going after abductors of hundreds of students in the bare, arid savannah is often made to look like searching for a needle in a haystack.”
Furthermore, the Congress condemned the alleged teargassing of parents who protested the students’ abduction, and warned against the dangers of “imposed silence” in Katsina and other parts of the country.
The statement quoted the NLC President as saying; “We are worried that security personnel are reported to have tear-gassed protesting parents of the abducted students and their sympathisers.
“We need not remind the authorities that the right to peaceful protest is guaranteed by our constitution and no one should abridge it.
“We recall that a similar protest in the state over the escalating insecurity situation was similarly broken up and its leaders arrested.”
“This culture of silence of the graveyard cannot be allowed to thrive in Katsina or any part of the country. We must warn of the dangers of imposed silence”, the Labour Movement cautioned in its statement.
