SENATE DEMANDS THE QUICK RELEASE OF THE KIDNAPPED ZAMFARA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Babatunji Wusu –

The Senate has demanded that bandits who have kidnapped female students from Federal University in Gusau, Zamfara State, immediately free them.

In the early hours of Friday, a sizable number of university students were abducted by the alleged bandits.

Senator Abdulaziz Yar’ Adua, the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Army, made the appeal in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

He declared that the nation’s top priority right now must be saving the defenseless female students held captive by the bandits.

Yar’Adua bemoaned the damage that banditry and insurgency by criminal elements had done to the nation, along with the subsequent kidnapping of law-abiding citizens, to both the nation’s reputation and the collective conscience of Nigerians.

This situation necessitates quick decision-making. The stress and suffering that these young girls and their families are going through right now cannot be understated.

It is our responsibility as leaders to put their safety and wellbeing first, he continued.

He stated that in order to stop the threat now endangering the nation’s unity, peace, and growth, the Nigerian Army and other security agencies needed to be well-positioned and prepared.

The recent abduction of more than 24 innocent university students from the Federal University of Gusau in Nigeria, especially the young females, is not only another terrible event; it is also a glaring sign that the degree of insecurity in our nation has risen to dangerous proportions.

“We can’t continue to do nothing while the future of our country is constantly at danger.

“I appeal to all governmental actors, including the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, to immediately focus on this horrible attack and make arrangements for the safe escape of our young daughters.

“Also, let’s utilize this terrible occurrence as a wake-up call for the Nigerian government to step up measures to stop the growing insecurity that has engulfed our nation.

“We cannot keep allowing thugs, rebels, and criminal elements to intimidate our neighborhoods, interfere with our children’s education, and strike dread into the hearts of law-abiding individuals.

“As chairman of the National Assembly’s committee on the Nigerian Army, I promise to lend this cause my unshakable voice, support, and resources.

To properly combat these dangers, we must strengthen our security forces, give them the equipment they need, give them the right training, and improve our intelligence gathering techniques.

“We must make sure that the Nigerian Army and other security agencies are equipped to immediately free these abducted students,”