The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) on Tuesday carried out a peaceful protest across the country over the rising cases of insecurity in schools across the nation.
- +NUT protests rising insecurity in schools
- +…As Fubara assures of adequate security
The crux of the peaceful action is the ongoing saga concerning the pupils and teachers who were kidnapped from three schools in Oyo State, who are still being held, and similar incidents across the country.
…As Fubara assures of adequate security
The crux of the peaceful action is the ongoing saga concerning the pupils and teachers who were kidnapped from three schools in Oyo State, who are still being held, and similar incidents across the country.
In Rivers State, placards carrying members of the NUT, Rivers State Wing, joined the nationwide action and marched to Government House to register their growing unease over the worsening insecurity in schools.
Bassey Asuquo, Secretary of the NUT, Rivers State Wing, who led the protest described the action as a solemn march of solidarity with their fallen colleague whose life was cut short by the bandits and the abducted teachers and students still languishing in captivity.
Asuquo lamented that teachers in Nigeria had become endangered species as the average teacher wakes up every morning to go to school to impart knowledge to their pupils, not knowing whether they will return home alive.
He described the Oyo incident as a crime against education and an assault on Nigerians as a people, saying schools have been turned into theatres of bloodshed in the country.
Asuquo demanded the immediate release of the abducted teachers and students, urging the Federal Government and state governments to take adequate steps to the recurring attacks.
He called for the immediate deployment of adequate security personnel to all public schools in Rivers State and across to protect teachers, pupils and school infrastructure from further attacks.
“The school is supposed to be a sanctuary, a place where the future of our nation is nurtured, shaped and prepared for greatness.
“But what we have witnessed in Oyo State is a brutal attack on a school and the cold blooded beheading of our noble colleague.
“It is not only a crime against education itself, it is an assault on our collective future as a people.
“Let it be known that what happened in Oyo State is not an isolated incident. We have seen similar acts of terror in Borno State.
“We have watched helplessly as schools, the temples of knowledge, are turned into theatres of horror. We refuse to be silenced. We refuse to accept this as the new normal,” he said.
Addressing the NUT, Rivers State Wing, Siminalayi Fubara, Governor of Rivers State, said that the state government has been working closely with security agencies to ensure the safety of schools, teachers and pupils across Rivers State.
Fubara, who was represented by Peters Nwagor, Commissioner for Education in Rivers State, said the state will continue to do all it can to ensure that incidents of attacks and abductions were prevented from occurring in the state.
He urged the NUT to exercise a little patience as the Federal Government is currently working out strategies to ensure that the abducted teachers and pupils were released within the shortest possible time.
BusinessDay reliably gathered that a similar protest also took place in neighbouring Bayelsa State in solidarity with the teachers and pupils still languishing at the hands of their abductors.
