Bandits kill 35 villagers in northwest Nigeria: police ewn.co.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ewn.co.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Eddy Odivwri
Twice they have spoken, twice they have shaken the polity. First, it was in Asaba, Delta State (last May 11) and just last Monday, they roared again, this time in Lagos, the city they have declared as the permanent secretariat of the Southern Governors’ Forum.
Only the naïve can either dismiss the 17 governors of Southern Nigeria or trifle with the points they have made. The message from the governors is as clear as crystal. And it is not far from declaring that the status quo cannot be allowed to continue. And this does not have anything to do with party affiliation or a warped sense of loyalty to some insensitive political leader. Both governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or even All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). The resolve seems to be like saying, we cannot be slave to party loyalty at the expense of the lives and safety of our people. This has been expressed on all fronts.
More anxiety as kidnappers only demand food from parents of abducted Bethel Baptist students dailypost.ng - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailypost.ng Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Daily Post Nigeria
Published
When Kidnappers first abducted a prominent traditional ruler in Kaduna State, the Agwom Adara, Maiwada Raphael Galadima, in 2018, and demanded N18 million Naira ransom, many in the State thought it would be the last incident in Kaduna State.
But after his Kidnap and gruesome murder by his abductors, the business of Kidnapping blossomed even as security operatives continue to remain helpless amid the declaration of war by bandits against Kaduna people.
In most cases, at midnight when their victims were fast asleep, Kidnappers will come knocking at the doors. Sometimes, the sound of gunshots brings to an end, the joyful sleep of their victims.
Earlier this week, reports emerged of yet another school kidnapping incident in Northern Nigeria, where over 120 students of the Bethel Baptist High School were kidnapped in Kaduna. This makes it the 10th major school kidnapping incident in Nigeria since December 2020.
An Al-Jazeera report in March 2021, noted that over 700 students had been kidnapped in Northern Nigeria since December 2020, dealing major blows to the fight for education and skilled development in the region.
The school kidnapping incidents have also been plagued by a major elephant in the room, which is a huge motivator for the persistent attacks ransoms. Parents in previous kidnaps this year told the media that they paid ransoms to secure the release of their children as the government did not help much, a situation that analysts say will worsen the crisis.