Piqued by the frequent senseless killing of innocent students across the north eastern Nigeria, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has enjoined the Federal government to transfer all the students in the eight unity schools in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States to other schools.
In a statement signed by the Chairman, Governing Council of the Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, on Wednesday, he said the perpetrators of the dastardly acts do not wish the country well hence; urgent steps must be taken to halt the killings.
In the last couple of weeks, hundreds of innocent people including no fewer than 59 College students in Yobe have been killed by the dreaded Islamist insurgents, Boko Haram across the north east.
The statement reads in part, “In the interim, proposals for the transfer of children in the eight Unity Schools in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe to other schools outside the region, should be taken seriously,” the statement said.
“Words are insufficient to comfort parents of the affected children as the killing of children is any parent’s worst nightmare.
“The pursuit of education cannot be a cause for the mass murder of innocent children.
“These children were killed while exercising their right and education is a basic right guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The Commission also opined that the National Assembly should reconvene plenary in earnest in te memory of the dead students who are symbol of the nation’s unity.
In a related development, the President, Nigeria Bar Association, Okey Wali, called on President Goodluck Jonathan, State Governors and Security Chiefs to device better ways of dealing with the insurgents so that peace and tranquility could return to the north.
His statement reads, “We call on the President Goodluck Jonathan, the service and security chiefs and governors of the affected states to intensify efforts to address the increasing security challenges that we are currently facing in Nigeria. This carnage must stop”.
