The Federal Government’s alleged silence on the abduction of 42 students from the Government Day Secondary School, Mussa, in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State some months ago has elicited worries among some stakeholders in the North-Central part of the country.
It will be recalled that the Boko Haram insurgents attacked Government Day Secondary School complex in Mussa, in Askira/Uba Local Government Area Borno State.
The school complex comprised a nursery school, a primary school and a secondary school. During the attack, 42 children were abducted, including those as young as two years old.
This alleged silence of the Federal Government regarding the abduction of the children is not going down well with the stakeholders in North-Central, including the Middle Belt Forum (MBF)
The Forum, in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Luka Biniyat, said while the entire nation rightly mobilised in support of the Oriire victims in Oyo State, the abducted Borno children have not got the required attention from the government.
According to the Forum, apart from the Mussa abduction, armed terrorists also attacked Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, also in Askira/Uba Local Government while students were sitting for their secondary school examinations, saying that 36 students and one staff member were abducted while one teacher was killed during the attack.
“Since the abductions, the government at the centre appears to have moved on, leaving the victims and their families to suffer alone. It is as if these children have been forgotten simply because they come from what appears to be a neglected part of Nigeria” the Forum declared.
The Forum pointed out that the continued silence of both the Federal Government and the governments of Borno and Kaduna states sends a dangerous message that some Nigerian lives matter more than others.
It therefore called on the governments of Borno and Kaduna states to demonstrate the same commitment and determination shown by the Oyo State government throughout the period its school children were held captive.
