#RescueEpe6
Tel: 08037207856, 08039456281, 08035480885, 07033697259
19 July,
2017
The
Executive Governor,
Lagos
State Government,
Ikeja,
Lagos.
Dear Sir,
WE
CALL FOR IMMEDIATE RESCUE OF THE SIX KIDNAPPED STUDENTS OF LAGOS STATE MODEL
COLLEGE, IGBONLA, EPE
We are a coalition of
civil society groups campaigning for safety of schools and communities. We are
specifically calling on the Lagos State Government to expedite action for the
immediate rescue of the six kidnapped students of Lagos State Model College,
Igbonla, Epe, Lagos State.
We find it very
disheartening that more than 50 (fifty) days after the kidnap of the students,
the Lagos State Government has not been able to secure the release of the
students despite repeated assurances from the police and security
agencies. While acknowledging the
instant response by the state government, police and security agencies
immediately after the abduction, we are however taken aback by the seeming apathy
thereafter.
We are equally alarmed
that the conduct and utterances of the Lagos State Government do not convey the
impression that it takes as urgent priority the rescue of these children as
there is no sign that things are amiss.
We are concerned that
the continuous stay of these children in kidnappers’ den has a tendency to
convey a message to thousands of pupils and students across the primary and
post-primary schools that their safety is not the priority of government. If
this should happen, the negative impact on gains made in enrolment and
retention of pupils in schools can only be imagined.
The rescue of the six
(6) kidnapped Epe school students is therefore crucial to restoring confidence
in our public schools’ system as well as government’s capacity to ensure the
safety of school children both within the school premises and outside of it in
line with the provisions of the Child Rights Act and other Conventions on the
right of the child to which Lagos State and Nigeria are signatories.
We submit that in the
situation where urgent and serious efforts are not made to rescue the students,
we would be left with no choice than to mobilize all concerned Lagosians and
Nigerians on public mass actions across Lagos State to ensure that Lagos State Government
does the needful.
Once again, we
reiterate that government should expedite actions in rescuing the Epe 6 now and
alive.
Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
Adeola
Soetan
For:
Safe Schools and Communities Advocacy Group
(SSCAG)
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