Kidnappers! Students now endangered

Report from The Guardian

Rather than abate, the tension generated by the kidnapping of Chibok schoolgirls in 2014 in Borno State has worsened and spreading like wild fire across schools

In the last few weeks, terrorists, loosely called bandits, have resumed attacks on schools, abducting students.

The recent surge happened in a number of places, including Kaduna, Zamfara, Plateau, Niger and Kogi states, resulting in killings and kidnapping.

In Kaduna, for instance, the state government confirmed the abduction of eight students of Government Day Secondary School, Awon, and other residents in Kachia Council by gunmen suspected to be bandits.

On June 13, seven students of the University of Jos (UNIJOS), who were studying for their second-semester examination, were also abducted by gunmen at their private hostel close to the former Nigerian School of Accountancy, along Bauchi Ring Road in the Jos North Council. The kidnappers were said to have stormed the hostel and broke into the room where they were reading, forced them into a waiting vehicle and zoomed off.

Six out of the seven kidnapped students later regained freedom, after spending two days in captivity.

Bandits abducted five students of the institution last Friday night, a situation that angered the students and made them to block the road connecting the area, making motorists stranded for hours.

Two female students of the university were earlier kidnapped at their off-campus hostel at Sabon Gida village of Bungudu Council, but have since regained freedom.

Students, parents and stakeholders have been worried over the renewed abduction, which have affected learning in states and increase the number of out-of-school children.

A non-governmental organisation focused on human rights and peace-building, Stefanos Foundation, in its report, disclosed that between January and April 2023 alone, 217 attacks have been recorded from 34 states in Nigeria, resulting in 1,872 deaths, 714 abductions and 65 injuries.

Similarly, data from Nigeria Security Report showed that 792 abductions were recorded from January to March, this year.

On a daily basis, cases of kidnapping are reported across the country, particularly in the north. In 2014, this scourge took a new dimension, when the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, kidnapped over 300 female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State. In 2023, kidnapping for ransom has not only risen but has also spread to all regions of the country.

The January 2021 edition of Constellis’ Kidnap for Ransom Insight Report indicated that Nigeria and Libya account for over 70 per cent of cases of kidnapping in Africa.

According to the report, between November and December 2020, Nigeria ranked second in the world behind the United States for the kidnapping of foreign citizens living in the country.

A report by a Lagos-based security and political risk research firm, conducted by SBM Intelligence, said about N653.7 million was paid as ransom in Nigeria between July 2021 and June 2022, for the release of kidnap victims.

The report, ‘The economics of Nigeria’s kidnap industry,’ detailed the country’s security issues, including incidents of banditry and the costs associated with kidnapping for ransom.

The report said at least 500 incidents of kidnapping were recorded and 3,420 people were abducted across Nigeria, with 564 others killed in violence associated with abductions in the one-year period.

The security report also recorded that N6.531bn ($9.9) was demanded in ransom in the year but N653.7m ($1.2 million) was paid as ransom for the release of captives. In 2022, the report said 4,545 people were killed by non-state actors, while 4,611 others were kidnapped.

According to the 2023 Nigeria Security Report by Beacon Consulting, over 700 abductions were carried out across the country in the first quarter of 2023.

A breakdown of these abductions showed the North Central suffered the highest with 325 incidents, followed by the North West, 250; South East, 74; North East, 58; South-South, 56; and South West, 29. Niger state recorded the highest abductions at 238,

followed by Kaduna, 113; and Katsina, 86.

Others are Borno State, 47; Zamfara, 40; Edo, 37; Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja 34; and Imo, 32.

The breakdown further showed that 41 per cent abduction figures affected the North Central region, 31.6 per cent North West and 7.3 per cent North East, making a total percentage of 79.9 per cent of kidnappings in the north within the period. And in the South East region,

there was a 42.62 per cent increase in cases of abductions.

However, a month-to-month analysis of the figures showed a significant decrease of 26.6 per cent in abductions and 25.9 per cent decrease in fatalities.

In the wake of the naira swap and financial squeeze, cases of kidnapping and abduction reduced but things changed when the Supreme Court directed the apex bank to release funds into the system. Between December 2020 and March 2023, there were many reported cases of abductions in schools at Kankara, Kagara, Jangebe, Damishi Kaduna, Tegina and Yawuri, while the threat of further attacks has led to the closure of over 600 schools in the northern part of the country.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said urgent actions are needed to protect children from the impacts of the conflicts in North East.

The agency said 96 Chibok girls were still in captivity, nine years after abduction.

UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, said since 2014, there have been over 2,400 incidents of grave violations verified, affecting over 6,800 children in the North East. She noted that the most common violations are the use of children by armed groups with 700 verified cases, abductions of children, with 693 incidents, and killing and maiming, with 675 incidents.

“It has been nine years since the horrendous abduction of the Chibok girls, yet the nightmare continues as children are still being kidnapped, forcibly recruited, killed, and injured– their futures torn away,” the agency lamented.

A cross-section of students during Children’s day celebration

The Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TCN) said between 2009 and 2022, about 2,295 teachers were reportedly killed in attacks, over 19,000 were displaced, while more than 1,500 schools closed because of insecurity and 910 others were destroyed.

The recent report by a global human rights group, Amnesty International, attributed the increasing spate of school abductions to deliberate inaction on the part of the government to prevent the attack.

After the abduction of about 300 schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State, the Federal Government launched the Safe Schools Initiative (SSI) as part of efforts to ensure that children in conflict areas or affected by insecurity continue with their education.

The aim of the initiative included moving students in the highest risk areas to schools in safer parts of the country, provision and distribution of learning materials and rebuilding of schools with extra security measures.

Since the administration of former President, Muhammadu Buhari, came on board in 2015, there have been calls for the initiative to be revived due to series of school abductions.

The initiative has three components, namely: the transfer of vulnerable learners in violence-affected communities to safe areas and boarding schools in states not affected by violence; the initiation of the safe school model in 10 schools in each of the three states affected by the Boko Haram insurgency; and provision of high-quality education to children affected by conflicts and living in camps for Internally Displaced Persons.

Although the initiative is hampered by funds and logistics, the three components of the initiative form part of the framework for, and obligation of, the Nigerian government to ensure safety in schools in Nigeria.

Three years after signing the Safe Schools Declaration Ratification documents, the Federal Government has failed to implement the programme that was supposed to ensure the safety of Nigerian schools for teaching and learning.

Buhari signed the programme on December 31, 2019, four years down the line, the government is yet to give effect to an emergency programme that was meant to increase access and quality of education of over 40 million schoolchildren.

While proffering solutions to the menace, a security expert, Johnson Ijeawere, said any kidnapper caught or arrested should not be spared.

Ijeawere said such perpetrators of the dastardly should be jailed to serve as deterrent to others.

He said putting them in prisons would discourage others from doing similar things.

Another security expert, Oluranti Adefemi, recommended that schools should keep close track of who is coming in and going out of their environment with metal detective gadgets, CCTV and secured access control.

He also stressed the need for schools to have perimeter fencing and establish strategic links with security agencies in the state.

On his part, Doja Ipadeola, blamed high rate of unemployment, poor funding of security agencies, proliferation of arms and ammunition, porous borders and ineffective justice system, as causes of insecurity.

Ipadeola stressed the importance of homegrown approach if insecurity is to be defeated.

“Each state, council, community, organisation or institution has its own peculiarities, which must be taken into consideration when developing a safety and security framework of what will work for it.”

Ipadeola proposed an institution-based security council, where the head of the institution will be the chief security officer.