The House of Representatives again on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to designate bandits as terrorists, while calling for special protection for public schools across Nigeria.
The lawmakers asked private school owners to ensure security of their facilities.
The House urged the Federal Government to “deal decisively with banditry and kidnappings in Nigeria and consider declaring kidnappers as terrorists.”
The House had earlier on September 30, 2021, asked the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to designate bandits, who have dominated the North-West and parts of the North-Central geopolitical zones, and their sponsors as terrorists.
The Senate had made the demand the previous day.
However, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had on Thursday declared bandits as terrorists.
At the plenary on Wednesday, a member of the House, Taiwo Oluga, moved a motion titled, ‘Need to Provide Security Measures in Federal Government and Private Schools in Nigeria.’
The lawmaker Oluga said, “The House is aware that despite frightening statistics on education in Nigeria, there is an aggressive assault on education mainly by the dreaded Boko Haram and bandits in the North that have developed a penchant for massive abduction of children, thereby increasing the number of out of school children in Nigeria.
“The House is concerned that despite these developments, the Federal Ministry of Education, the states’ ministries of education and private school owners have not taken steps to provide adequate security in schools across the country to prevent attacks.
