KASTINA BOYS ABDUCTION: Teachers Threatens To Embark On Nationwide Strike

As a result of abduction of the Kankara school boys in Kastina state by bandits, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) on Tuesday threatened to embark on a nationwide strike.

The union described it as a continued threat to the lives of its members and students.

The organisation, therefore, called on government at all levels to ensure adequate security and 24-hour surveillance around schools in order not to escalate the disruption of the academic calendar “which is in a fragile state as a result of COVID – 19 pandemic.”

candidreporters.com gathered that the Secretary-General of NUT, Dr. Mike Ene, issued the strike notice in Abuja, in reaction to the abduction of over 300 students in Government Day Science Secondary School In Kankara, Katsina State and other cases in the country.

The NUT said it was highly disturbed by the re-emerging incidence of school invasion and abduction of teachers and students across the country’s educational institutions.

The statement read in parts ; “The wicked and merciless hands of anti-education terrorists clinched Mr. Alu Ola Paul a Headteacher with Olagua Primary School Ohordua in Edo State, and Kidnapped him on his way to work on December 1, 2020 and released six days later.

“In the same view on December 8 2020, Mrs. Gladys Niemogha Belleh and Mrs. Blessing Emunefe both of whom are teachers of Ohorhe Secondary School, Effurun in Delta State were kidnapped in their school premises by armed bandits and are yet to be released, thereby throwing both families, students, and the school community into emotional and overall destabilization.

“Similarly, the night of Friday December 11 2020 Government Science Secondary School Kankara in Katsina State, was invaded by armed bandits with reports that 333 students are yet to be accounted for as at today, this dastardly act has sent shivers through the spine of other members of the entire school community of Katsina state.

“In light of these recent developments, the NUT may be compelled to down tools, pending when it is safe for our members to teach and guide our pupils and students without fear of abduction by these faceless enemies of educational prosperity of the Nigerian nation.

As a union, the NUT will not fold her hands and watch enemies of educational development to threaten the nation’s educational system to suffocation. As such, we wish to remind our government at all levels, of their primary responsibility as enshrined in the constitution which is the security of lives and property of the entire Nigerian citizens.