The House of Representatives on Tuesday requested the federal government to rescue the abducted Ogbomoso schoolchildren and tutors “without further delay”.
It passed this resolution during plenary on Tuesday, following the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala, lawmaker representing Ogbomoso north/ Ogbomoso
The lawmakers also urged the Federal Government to establish a Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Orire Local Government Area of Oyo State, in addition to the 1000 forest guards, already approved for the state by President Bola Tinubu.
They explained that this has become necessary to ensure sustained security presence “across the Old Oyo National Park and its environs, so that this strategic frontier around the boarder corridors ceases to be a safe-haven for killers and a passage of terror into the South-West.”
No fewer than 45 schoolchildren and teachers were abducted on May 15 when gunmen attacked Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School, Esiele; and LA Primary School in Ogbomoso, all located in Oriire LGA.
Last week, President Bola Tinubu directed the deployment of “a specialised security unit with advanced rescue capabilities” to secure the release of the kidnapped pupils and tutors.
Moving the motion, Alao-Akala condemned the killing of Michael Oyedokun, a mathematics teacher, by the abductors.
The lawmaker described the teacher’s beheading as a “barbaric and savage act”, saying it warrants an “immediate and decisive response from every arm of government”.
“As we sit in the comfort of this chamber, mothers in Oriire are sleepless, fathers are broken, and children still in the hands of their captors are crying out for a rescue that has not yet come, and that every passing hour of their captivity is an hour of unbearable agony for families who do not know whether their loved ones are alive or dead,” he said.
Bamidele Salam, lawmaker representing Ede north/Ede south/Ejigbo/Egbedore federal constituency of Osun state, decried the spike in insecurity, especially in public schools.
“The abduction of school children, which started with the kidnapping of Chibok girls a few years ago, is becoming a trend. One of the keys to liberating a people is education, and if that key is in the hands of killers, then there is a problem,” he said.
“As leaders, we need to attend to this issue with a sense of urgency. Most of the children of the leaders attend private schools, some of them outside the country.
“The children of the poor attend public schools, but we cannot close our eyes to the plight of the children of the poor,” he said.
He asked the government to create a special force to protect schools nationwide.
Benedict Etanabene, a lawmaker from Delta, urged the parliament to conclude the constitutional process of establishing state police.
The motion was unanimously adopted after Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, called for a voice vote.
Consequently, the House of Reps asked the federal government to establish a permanent military base in the area to tackle the activities of banditry across the Oyo national park and its environs.
Similarly, the parliament adopted a separate motion by Usman Balami, calling on the federal government and security agencies, to immediately, rescue the 42 school children abducted from Mussa Ward, Askira-Uba Local Government Area, as well as all other persons currently held in captivity, across the country.
The lower legislative chambers called for immediate and full implementation of its resolution on decentralisation of the country’s security architecture and creation of state and local government police, as well as an integrated intelligence and surveillance network.
