OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
The Senate has summoned the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, over the kidnap of secondary school girls in Yobe and Borno states respectively.
The security chiefs are to appear before the Senate committees on Police Affairs, Security and Intelligence and submit their report within two weeks.
Furthermore, they are to brief the joint committee on operational strategies to rescue the abducted school girls.
The resolution followed a motion moved by Binta Masi Garba (APC, Adamawa State) at Thursday’s plenary and co-sponsored by eight other senators.
Recall that on February 21 this year (2018) over 100 school girls from Government Girls Science Technical College, Dapchi, Busari Local Government Area of Yobe State were abducted by suspected Boko Haram terrorists, even as the fate of the remaining 113 abducted Chibok school girls in 2014 hangs in the balance.
The motion, which was read by Deputy Minority Whip, Biodun Olujimi, on behalf of Garba, was in commemoration of the International Women’s Day.
She noted that policies are needed to promote women’s access to education, innovative technologies and practices, decent work, climate-resilient jobs and protect them from violence in schools and work places.
The lawmaker expressed concern that if the trend is left unchecked, girl child education which is part of objective of goal Number Four of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) would have been lost in Nigeria even before the 2030 target year.
She said: “The implementation of policies that prohibits violence against women and girls and promotes the Girl-Child education is still very poor. Practices such as violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking, sexual and other types of exploitation, early child and forced marriage, female genital mutilation, are still being practiced.
She expressed worry “that a pattern is gradually being established which clearly indicates that the objectives of the Boko Haram Insurgents is to deprive young girls of school age from pursuing education”.
