Leah Sharibu and other students who are still with their abductors, especially Boko Haram insurgents should be released, NUT begs FGN.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers [NUT] has once again called on the Federal Government to do all within its power to ensure the safe release of the remaining abducted Chibock schoolgirls.
Moreso, the union also called on the 10 remaining state governments in the country that are yet to implement the new 65-year-old retirement policy for their teachers to do so without further delay.
The Secretary-General of NUT, Dr Mike Ene, made the call in an exclusive interview with Tribune Online when asked to reflect on the past major occurrences in the education sector.
He said, “It is not only sad that the Chibok schoolgirls and other students, including Leah Sharibu, were kidnapped right from their schools in the first instance, but that they are still being held captive several years after their abduction is totally unacceptable.”
No fewer than 276 Chibok schoolgirls in Borno State were reportedly kidnapped by Boko Haram fighters on the night of 14th and 15th April 2014, with some of them still in captivity 11 years after, while Leah Sharibu, who is now 21 years old, and some other students were also kidnapped at different times and are still in captivity.
Ene therefore urged the Federal Government and the security agencies to renew their efforts and re-strategise as we enter a new year to secure the safe release of the innocent schoolgirls, who are now adults.
According to him, even though it is difficult to know if all of those remaining girls are still alive, the government should make efforts to trace them and secure their release.
“Those girls have been in captivity for too long,” he stressed, praying for God to intervene on their behalf.
Ene mentioned that the military should use its drones to track and fish out the girls from the forest or any other place they may have been kept all these years while the foot soldiers go and rescue them.
He emphasised that, as a country, we need to be more serious with the case of the remaining abducted schoolgirls and ensure they are all released unhurt, adding that the government should not relax until the last person is out of the kidnappers’ den.
He said, “It is a pity that schools and students, as well as teachers, have become soft targets for kidnappers to make money in the country.”
On the state governments that are yet to implement the age elongation for their teachers’ retirement, he said no fewer than 26 states out of the entire 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory have already made the policy a law in their states.
The law is that teachers in public schools will no longer retire at 60 years of age or after spending 30 years in service but now at 65 years old or 40 years in service, respectively.
Ene argued that the benefit of the retirement age elongation to the education sector and the respective state economy in general is huge, and the remaining states that are yet to implement it should do so now.
