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Insecurity: NANS declares June 12 national protest day
By Modupe Shodeinde
The President, National Association of Nigerian Students, Sunday Asefon, on Tuesday, declared the coming June 12 Democracy Day national protest day by members, insisting there was nothing worth celebrating.
Asefon, who addressed a news conference in Ado-Ekiti, stated that insecurity had reached a frightening height where safety of students is no longer guaranteed in schools.
“What are we celebrating when people are not at peace, when insecurity is threatening our existence when killings and banditry are the order of the day? Democracy is about people, but what are we celebrating as democracy day when the people are being killed?” Asefon queried.
He lamented the worsening insecurity in the country and the ripple effects on students who fell victim to kidnapping and banditry at will.
The NANS leader bemoaned the abduction of some 200 pupils of Islamiyya School in Rafi Local Council of Niger State, barely 24 hours after students of Greenfield University in Kaduna were released by their captors.
He said the incessant kidnapping of students in the North West and North Central geopolitical zones calls for immediate action by the political leadership to halt the nation’s gradual slide into anarchy.
He said, “I hereby declare 11th June as the national students’ day of prayers. Prayers shall be offered for the repose of our students who have died in the hands of kidnappers. Prayers shall be held for the safe return of our students who are still with their kidnappers.
“I hereby declare June 12, 2021, as the National Day of Peaceful Protest to call on the government to act decisively towards addressing insecurity in our schools, campuses and also announce a proactive measure or strategy towards ensuring safer schools.”
Asefon stated that the government and security agencies can no longer be trusted because they have failed the people.
“Government must convene a national dialogue where people can come with different ideas and proffer solutions to this insecurity issue,” he added.
