·
ERC
Demands their Immediate Rescue
·
Calls
for policies to address the social roots of kidnapping and other crimes
Press Statement
About one month ago, six
secondary school students of Lagos State Model College, Igbonla-Epe were
kidnapped. Uptill now, there are no news of their release despite repeated
assurances from the Lagos state government and the police.
The Education Rights
Campaign (ERC) Lagos State Chapter vehemently condemns the kidnap of the six
students. We sympathize with the families and relatives of the victims. Their
sorrow at this trying period can only be imagined. We join them to demand an
immediate rescue of the six kidnapped students.
The
Police and other security agencies have repeatedly given assurances that they
are on top of the situation. As far as we are concerned in the ERC, the police
and security agencies need to start showing result. That six kidnapped students
have to stay this long in kidnappers den is itself a clear evidence that the
police and other security agencies are failing in the discharge of their
responsibilities.
We equally call on the Lagos
state government to do everything possible to secure the rescue of the abducted
students. As far as we are concerned, the constant excuses of the government
for the continuous stay of the six students in kidnappers den are unacceptable.
The only result we want to see is the rescue of the six students and their safe
return to the arms of their families. We would like to remind the state
government that one of its major responsibility as enshrined in the
constitution is the safety of lives of the citizens. If those six students were
to be children of politicians and highly placed individuals in society, we are
sure that the state government would have been more serious in seeking their
rescue. As far as we are concerned, the continuous stay of those six students
in kidnappers den is a stain on the state government and its capacity to
guarantee the safety of citizens.
The Epe school kidnap
is however one kidnap too many. Recall that last year October 2016, an incident
of this nature occurred at the same school where four (4) students and Two (2)
staffs were kidnapped. This is aside many other kidnap cases around Lagos.
To find solution to
this menace requires that we dig into the root of the crisis. In our view, the
incessant nature of kidnapping and other forms of violent crimes is a direct
consequence of the condition of youth unemployment, lack of opportunities and
poverty which years of implementation of neo-liberal and anti-poor policies
have created. It is therefore not a surprise that the rate of violent crimes and
youth restiveness in the country has risen in tandem with the rising rate of
youth unemployment over the past two years.
In Lagos in particular,
just like the previous governments, the Governor Ambode-led All Progressive
Congress (APC) government anti-poor policies of rendering people jobless and
homeless through seizure of commercial motorcycles, confiscation of wares of
petty traders and arbitrary demolition of poor people’s homes to pave way for
developers are the reasons that kidnapping and other social vices are on the
rise. As we have repeatedly argued, the government cannot take people’s means
of livelihood and poor people’s homes without compensation and expect no
backlash. Unless these anti-poor policies of government are immediately reversed
and replaced with pro-people policies that create jobs and ensure that the poor
and vulnerable are taken care of, it will not be possible to curb the menace of
kidnapping and other social vices.
We therefore call on
the state government to be socially responsible to the social needs and
aspirations of the common people. The
common people also desire good housing, good health care, good and quality
education system, good employment opportunities and where this is not provided,
the gate would be opened for all kinds of crimes including kidnapping.
Nurudeen
Omomeewa
State
Coordinator
ERC
Lagos
08188878976
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