The Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center, WARDC has stated that about 490 teachers in Borno State by Boko Haram insurgents while trying to protect school children from abductions and attacks by the terrorist group.
Director of WARDC, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, made the revelation at a capacity building meeting organized by the Centre in collaboration with Forward in Action for Poverty and Malnutrition, FACEPAM, for school administrators, communities and civil society organization in Bauchi.
Akiyode-Afolabi, who is also one of Bring Back Our Girls Convener, said that although abduction of school children in the country was not a new thing, it has become rampant in recent times hence the need for the intervention of WARDC.
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She said: “We all know that the abduction of Chibok schoolgirls has become a global issue, but school children have also been abducted in large numbers in various schools.
“For instance, the kidnapping of school children at a school in Ikorodu in Lagos and other states is well documented.”
The Director urged Government at all levels to take the issue of security particularly in schools as a priority to protect the lives of the students and teachers.
In his address, Dr. Ahmed Garba of the Faculty of Law, Bauchi State University, Misau Campus, said that the best way to forestall abduction of school children and teachers was to use a collaborative approach.
“Under this approach, all stakeholders would involve and be ready to take responsibility on how to secure the safety of school children” Garba said.
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