Public schools were shut yesterday as teachers protested the April 15 abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State.
They went on a protest march in many state capitals. They were received by governors or their representatives. Their sole request was: “bring back the girls”.
The teachers went on the protest on the platform of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT).
In Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, they marched through major streets, led by state Chairman Kayode Akosile and Secretary Jamiu Ola-Idris. The protesting teachers took off from their state secretariat on Iyin Road, stopping at the Fajuyi Park to address a rally.
Akosile said it was unacceptable that over 200 girls had been kidnapped for over a month without a clue from any quarter. He said 173 teachers had been killed in Borno State since the Boko Haram insurgency started. Their families have not been compensated.
Imo teachers were dressed in black during their protest in Owerri, the state capital. Chairman of the State NUT Cletus Uche Okeke decried the senseless killing of teachers and pupils by Boko Haram.
The teachers displayed placards, with inscriptions, such as “Release our girls now”, and “Enough is enough.” They called for the immediate rescue of the abducted girls.
Governor Rochas Okorocha received them and condemned the abduction. He praised the teachers for showing concern for the plight of the kidnapped girls. Declaring three days fasting and prayer in the state, Okorocha said there was urgent need for the leadership of thenation to rise up and find solution to the problems in the country.
In Anambra, the teachers were led by NUT Chairman Ifeanyi Ofodile. They stormed the Government House in Awka. They were about 250 placard-carrying members. Some of the placards read: “Education is a right” “we demand the immediate release of the abducted girls.”
They said if the insurgents were allowed to succeed, they might have succeeded in taking the country back by 100 years.
Ofodile said: “We are averse to the injustice and barbaric enterprise of the Boko Haram group.
”We as parents, teachers and Nigerians are here to say no to the evil perpetrated by them,
“ In the real sense, over 173 teachers had been sacrificed; they are also the unsung heroes of these attacks.”
They did not get the attention of the government.
In Lagos, teachers marched in their thousands on the streets in Ikeja.
Some pupils dressed in school uniforms were also spotted around Ilasamaja area carrying placards with inscriptions “Bring back our girls”, “Bring our girls back safe and alive.”
The teachers, who wore in yellow t-shirts, stormed the office of the governor, singing.
They said the President Goodluck Jonathan administration had offended them with its failure to secure the freedom for the girls more than one month after.
NUT Vice Chairman Mr. Adedoyin Adeshina, who led the protesters, said they needed to “consult, consolidate before ending it with confrontation”.
“The protest is not belated because the girls are still in Boko Haram’s custody and we need to consult before we act”.
The teachers also demanded that May 29 be declared as a day for sober reflection for schools, saying that the situation left them with nothing to celebrate. They handed a letter to Commissioner for Transportation Kayode Opeifa who represented Governor Babatunde Fashola.
Teachers in public schools in Kwara State joined the protest.
Though many schools initially opened due to poor communication to the schools’ heads, by noon, the closure of all the schools had been fully complied with. The teachers staged a peaceful rally to the Government House where they were received by Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed. He described the search for the Chibok girls as an “uncommon challenge that requires collective efforts to resolve”.
He added that Nigerians must bury their differences to overcome insecurity in parts of the country.
The governor assured the protesters that the Federal Government was not resting on its oars to find the girls.
State NUT chair Comrade Musa Abubakar led the protesters.
Bauchi State NUT chair Danjuma Saleh said during their protest as they marched on the street to the Governmennt House: “We demand that the Federal and state governments show genuine concern to the families of the 173 teachers killed by insurgents. ’’
He said 170 teachers were killed in Borno State and three in Yobe State, adding that the government should adequately alleviate their families’ misery by paying them a reasonable sum.”
Secretary to the Bauchi State Government Aminu Hammayo who received the protesters, commended them for the peaceful protest and assured that their message would be passed to the governor for onward delivery to the President.
Rivers State teachers converged on the Isaac Boro Park. They carried placards and banners, with inscriptions, such as, “ End Boko Haram now”; “Bring back our girls”; and “Boko Haram has killed 173 teachers. Federal Government please intensify efforts”.
Mr. Geoffrey Worgu, the NUT chairman who led the teachers to the Rivers State Government House said if the Federal Government continued to be slow in getting the girls released, teachers would have no choice but to shut down all the schools in Rivers State.
Worgu said the rally became necessary when they realised that nothing had been done in respect to the girls.
Teachers marched also in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. The girls were abducted in Borno State.
Local NUT Chairman Malam Bulama Abiso, represented by his deputy, Malam Bako Lawal, said insurance cover would encourage teachers to give their best.
He said government should also consider extending the insurance cover to pupils in both primary and secondary schools.
“This has become necessary, considering the vulnerable political environment in which we operate.’’
Abiso lamented that more than 100 teachers had been killed in Borno and Yobe by suspected insurgents in the last few years, leaving their wives and children to suffer.
He urged the government to fast track the payment of death benefits to families of the teachers in Borno to reduce their hardship.
“We are telling Boko Haram to release our girls. We want our girls back safely to reunite with their parents,’’ the chairman said.
Governor Kashim Shettima thanked the NUT for the rally. He commiserated with the union on the death of more than 100 teachers in attacks and promised that the government would strive hard to pay their next of kins their benefits.
He said the state government had paid individuals who lost their bread winners N250,000 each as token assistance in each suspected Boko Haram attack. Shettima said the money was not a compensation but support for the affected families.
In Calabar, the teachers carried placards through the streets to the Governor’s office and called for the immediate release of the girls.
The placards had various inscriptions, such as “Our hearts are with chibok girls”; “Our girls must go to school”; “We taught you, don’t kill us”, among others.
Addressing the teachers at the Governor’s office, NUT Chairman Eyo-Nsa Itam said it was time they joined other Nigerians and the international community to call for the safe return of the girls.
He said: “The school system has suffered the worst attack- from primary and secondary to tertiary education system.
“Apart from the abduction of Chibok school girls and others unaccounted, so far 173 teachers have lost their lives in the Boko Haram human decimation.
“Making lives secure in our school system and guaranteeing conducive and peaceful learning environment is the first emergency need of our education system.
“It is also important to take insurance cover for both students and teachers in the vulnerable political environment of the country.
“Education should be publicly declared as fundamental human right and its abridgement should be criminalised.’’
State Security Adviser Rekpene Bassey, who addressed the teachers, lauded them for the peaceful protest.
He said: “What you have done is what all patriotic Nigerians and the international community are doing to ensure that the girls are released alive.
“These are difficult times for Nigeria, and in difficult times, we need to be patriotic, careful and to ensure that whatever we do does not contribute to the problem.
Bassey charged all Nigerians to assist the government by giving out timely and accurate information that would avert crimes and other insurgencies.
