The National Union of Teachers (NUT), Rivers State chapter on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest in Port Harcourt over the rising insecurity orchestrated by terrorists in other states, including Oyo, Kwara and Borno States.
The protesters who brandished placards with various inscriptions, marched to Government House, Port Harcourt, said they were unhappy over the plight of their colleagues who were kidnapped from three schools in Oyo State and are still in captivity.
Secretary of the NUT, Rivers State Wing, Comrade Bassey Asuquo, who led the protest described the action as a solemn march of solidarity with their fallen colleague whose life was cut short.
He lamented that teachers in Nigeria had become endangered species as the average teacher wakes up every morning to go to school to impart knowledge to their pupils, not knowing whether they will return home alive.
Asuquo said:”The school is supposed to be a sanctuary, a place where the future of our nation is nurtured, shaped and prepared for greatness.
“But what we have witnessed in Oyo State is a brutal attack on a school and the cold blooded beheading of our noble colleague. It is not only a crime against education itself, it is an assault on our collective future as a people.
“Let it be known that what happened in Oyo State is not an isolated incident. We have seen similar acts of terror in Borno State. We have watched helplessly as schools, the temples of knowledge, are turned into theatres of horror. We refuse to be silenced. We refuse to accept this as the new normal.”
Asuquo demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the teachers and students still held in captivity and urged the Federal Government as well as all State Governments to take immediate and decisive steps to end the recurring attacks on schools across Nigeria.
He also demanded the immediate deployment of adequate security personnel to all public schools across Rivers State and the federation while the government puts in place a comprehensive national school safety policy that protects students, teachers and school infrastructure from attacks, abduction and all forms of violence.
In his response, Governor Siminalayi Fubara disclosed that the state government had been working closely with security agencies to ensure the safety of schools, teachers and pupils across Rivers State.
Fubara, represented by the Commissioner for Education in Rivers State, Dr. Peters Nwagor, said the state will continue to do all it can to ensure that incidents of attacks and abductions were prevented from occurring in the state.
He also prevailed on the NUT to exercise a little patience as the Federal Government is currently working out strategies to ensure that the abducted teachers and pupils were released within the shorted possible time.
