By Peter Salami
The House of Representatives on Tuesday intensified pressure on the Federal Government and security agencies to secure the immediate rescue of pupils and teachers abducted from schools in Oyo State, as the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) staged a nationwide protest over the gruesome killing of a teacher by kidnappers.
The lawmakers made the demand during plenary following a motion sponsored by Hon. Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala, urging authorities to ensure that the abducted pupils and teachers from Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, Community Grammar School, Esiele, and L.A. Primary School are returned safely to their families.
“Bring our remaining sons, daughters, and teachers home alive without further delay, for every hour lost is an hour in which we risk losing them forever, and that risk now outweighs every other consideration before us,” Alao-Akala said.
The call followed the killing of Michael Oyedokun, one of the teachers abducted by bandits from Community High School, Ahoro-Esiele in Oriire Local Government Area, who was reportedly beheaded while in captivity.
To strengthen security in the area, the House called for the establishment of a permanent military Forward Operating Base in Oriire Local Government Area in addition to the 1,000 forest guards already approved by President Bola Tinubu.
Lawmakers said the military presence would help secure the Old Oyo National Park and surrounding border corridors, which they described as routes frequently exploited by criminal elements to launch attacks and escape detection.
The House also renewed its call for the implementation of a decentralised security architecture, including the creation of state police, local government policing units, decentralised courts, and an integrated national intelligence and surveillance network.
According to the lawmakers, further delays in implementing such reforms could worsen the country’s security challenges and expose more communities to violent attacks.
Meanwhile, teachers across the country took to the streets in a coordinated protest organised by the Nigeria Union of Teachers to condemn the killing of their colleague and demand the safe release of the abducted teachers and students.
Speaking during the demonstration in Abuja, FCT NUT Chairman, Abdullahi Shafa, described the murder of Oyedokun as tragic, heartbreaking, and unacceptable.
“If you are aware, in the last few weeks, teachers and students in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo have been troubled. A teacher there was beheaded instantly for no just cause. This is somebody that had gone to impact knowledge on our students,” he said.
“It is touching, horrifying, and devastating that a teacher who has put in his best to ensure that children get qualitative education is being killed like that without any reason. This is not good for the system.”
Shafa warned that the incident had created fear among teachers and could undermine effective teaching and learning if urgent steps were not taken to improve security around schools.
He appealed to the Federal Government and security agencies to provide adequate protection for teachers, students, and educational institutions nationwide, while also calling for improved school infrastructure, including perimeter fencing and other protective measures.
According to him, the nationwide protest was a one-day peaceful demonstration aimed at drawing attention to growing insecurity within the education sector and showing solidarity with the family of the slain teacher.