Lawan decries incessant abduction of students, says it threatens education in the North

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has decried the persistent attacks and abductions of students by bandits in the north, saying the acts will ultimately deprive school children in the north of education, particularly the girl-child.

Lawan, who spoke in Abuja on Sunday at the first solo exhibition of paintings and photographs by the son of Adamawa State Senator, Binos Dauda Yaroe, Stephen, noted that a number of schools in the northern region have been attacked by bandits with hundreds of students kidnapped and that could lead to more out of school children.

Reacting to the latest abduction of students and teachers from the Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State, Lawan said that education in the north is getting seriously affected.

“In northern Nigeria, education has always been a problem and it is making it worse with this kind of abduction of students either in Islamiya school or normal secondary school or even in tertiary institutions like it happened in Afaka in Kaduna State.

“I believe we should continue to fight this kind of insurgency and banditry for us to restore normalcy in our country for our country to make progress.”

He added that the insecurity plaguing the country was a challenge that must be prioritised and tackled jointly by all tiers of government for results to be realised.

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“I want to assure everyone that this administration, the Muhammadu Buhari APC administration, will continue to work hard to bring back security to this country.

“It is a challenge, but I believe that it is for all of us – the Federal, States and, of course, the Local Government and all the communities and ethnic groups across the country.

“This is a situation that needs all hands on deck regardless of what you believe in. We all need to survive first before we achieve any excellence and I believe we can do so well.

“We can reverse the current trend of insecurity in our country. It is a very sad development that our education is suffering especially with so much kidnapping of school children especially the girl child.”

By Isaac Dachen…

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