Teachers threaten strike over attacks on schools

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has threatened to go on strike in states where schools are being attacked and students and teachers abducted in the country.

The union made the threat on Wednesday while expressing regret over the abduction of students and teachers of the Goverment Secondary School, Kangara, Niger state.

Calling on the Federal Government to urgently declare a state of emergency on the security situation in the country, the NUT warned that it “will not hesitate to withdraw the services of all teachers in the affected states of the federation”, if the security situation in schools and colleges were not guaranteed.

In a statement on Wednesday by the Secretary General of the union, Dr. Mike Ene, the NUT also faulted the strategy being deployed by security agencies saying it fell short of expectation, considering that the Kagara abduction has just occurred while Nigeria was yet to fully contend with the December 2020 abduction of students in Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State.

The statement reads: “It has become imperative for all tiers of government to put all hands on deck. We therefore call on state governments to use part of their security voters to employ alternate security service to complement existing security agencies in policing our schools.

“We must warn that if the security situation in our schools and colleges is not guaranteed, the NUT will not hesitate to withdraw the services of all teachers in the affected states of the federation.

“The union is worried and greatly concerned over the increasing state of insecurity across the country, where attacks on soft target such as schools are fast becoming danger spot for bandit and other criminal elements in Nigeria.

Read also: Niger releases names of abducted Kagara students, teachers

“The NUT is alarmed by this brazen attack which has left a number of families and relatives distressed. We call on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency declare a state of emergency on security situation in the country.

“The current strategy deployed by our security agencies fall short of expectation considering that the Kagara abduction has just occurred while the nation is yet to fully contend with the December, 2020 abduction of students in Government Science Secondary School Kankara Katsina state.

“Such criminal elements have no place in a civilised society such as Nigeria. The Federal Government must deploy the full weight of our nations security apparatus to ensure the safe return of our abducted students and teachers.

“Furthermore steps must be taken to completely eliminate all forms of security threats to our schools. We wish to reiterate that teaching and learning can only be guaranteed in an atmosphere safety and security.”

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