SCHOOLS AND KIDNAPPERS"!

Schools are targets for criminals who see kidnapping as an easy way to illicit wealth or for other reasons, assumed a national dimension with the kidnapping of 276 female students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, a town in Borno State. The perpetrators, a deranged gang of religious bigots, Boko Haram, claimed responsibility for the dastardly act. It may not have been for ransom, but it sure introduced a new dimension to the spate of insecurity in the land. Since then, there have been other cases involving the desecration of school premises where young minds are formed for national development. In Lagos, Model College in Igbonla, Epe got its own share of the horrifying experience when on October 6, 2016, four pupils and two teachers were kidnapped for ransom. Before this, in March of the same year, three pupils were kidnapped at the Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary in Ikorodu, Lagos State. The latest took place last week at the Nigerian Tulip International School, in Ogun State, where three female students and five staff were taken away by gun men who have since demanded for ransom. There are many unreported cases of students and pupils kidnapped on their way to or from school. In most of these cases, the police, working with the anxiety-stricken parents, have had to do the needful, including making the money demanded by the criminals available after negotiations, just to secure the release of the captives. This, in our view, is essentially reactive and not enough in the circumstance if the emerging trend must be effectively checked. Parents-Teachers Associations of schools, The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools and the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools have decided to spear-head a proactive move expected to prevent the act before it happens especially as the situation has become so worrisome and demands urgent attention from the government and the relevant security agencies. They are demanding that the federal government intervenes decisively. For the schools, the problem, in our considered opinion, goes beyond building fences or engaging the services of more private security agencies because these arrangements, though needed in peace time,  are often useless when the marauders come knocking armed with automatic weapons and in most cases under the influence of some aphrodisiac. What this also implies for parents and guardians is that most of them will not have a rest of mind, satisfied that their wards in school are secure. And while this is going on, their jobs or businesses suffer due to divided attention. Not to talk of the accompanying mental torture.  Already, some school proprietors are suggesting that parents pay security levy to be used to secure their wards while they are in school. If this sails through, its effect on the family budget, is better imagined. In any case, this extra expense on security, even the proprietors themselves know, is not likely to assure the parents of the safety of their children. Establishing schools is an investment with a long gestation period. It is also not known to yield high returns. This state of insecurity that has extended to the sector will surely have a negative impact on it as new investors, foreign and local, may be forced to reconsider their options. For the simple reason that it will add, unnecessarily, we dare say, to the cost of doing business.  What it also means is that students and their teachers as well as the school management will be operating under an environment of fear and uncertainty with the repercussion on learning. As the Commander-in-Chief of the country, we think that President Muhammadu Buhari should be concerned about the implication of these and other pockets of crises across the land to, not just the nation’s security, but also her socio-economic growth and development. We have not forgotten that security was a major plank of his electioneering campaign. He may have degraded Boko Haram but it is becoming obvious that insurgency is just a fraction of the security challenge the nation faces. Therefore, we suggest that the government considers, as a matter of utmost urgency, a holistic review of the entire nation’s security situation with a view to putting forward a more proactive and effective way of nipping incidences in the bud before they happen. With the right political will, it can be done.***prbxselfnetwork***.