Senate condemns abduction of 87 pupils, pushes for State Police

ABUJA – The Nigerian Senate has condemned the abduction of 87 students and teachers in separate attacks on schools in Borno and Oyo states, describing the incidents as a dangerous assault on the future of the country and renewing calls for the establishment of state police.

Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, said the recurring attacks further underscored the urgency of decentralising Nigeria’s policing system to strengthen national security.

In a statement issued on Sunday by the Directorate of Media and Public Affairs in his office, Bamidele described the school abductions as unacceptable despite more than $30 million reportedly raised globally in 2014 to improve school security across Nigeria.

The latest attacks involved the abduction of 45 students and teachers by suspected gunmen from Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Community Grammar School and L.A Primary School in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

In a similar attack, suspected Boko Haram insurgents reportedly invaded Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State and abducted 42 students.

Bamidele described the incidents as a “tragic national concern” capable of worsening Nigeria’s already alarming out-of-school children crisis and undermining long-term national development.

“We cannot and must not allow it to continue. At the National Assembly, we will rise against this trend and put an end to it through the instrumentality of legislation,” he said.

He disclosed that the 10th National Assembly had reached an advanced stage in the amendment of the 1999 Constitution to pave the way for the creation of state police.

According to him, once the constitutional amendment process is concluded, the proposal would be transmitted to state Houses of Assembly for ratification by at least two-thirds of the states.

The Senate leader appealed to governors and state lawmakers to treat the issue as one of national survival rather than partisan or ethnic politics.

He also urged federal and state governments to fully implement the Safe School Initiative as an immediate response to insecurity in schools and the rising number of out-of-school children, currently estimated at 18.3 million.

Bamidele added that the National Assembly would resume plenary on June 2 to conclude pending legislative measures aimed at addressing insecurity, including proposed amendments to the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, to strengthen accountability and reinforce the justice system against terrorism and violent crimes.