Following the protest by parents of the kidnapped students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna, the House of Representatives resolved to meet the Kaduna State Government to discuss how to rescue the abductees.
The protest took place at the main gate of the National Assembly complex in Abuja on Tuesday.
29 of the students abducted by bandits on March 11, 2021 are yet to regain freedom.
The bandits had shortly after abducting the students released 10 of the students.
About 30 minutes into the plenary on Tuesday, the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, asked the Security Committee to go and address the protesters.
When the delegation led by Hon Babajimi Benson, Chairman, Defence Committee returned about 45 minutes after, the Speaker asked for feedback.
Benson said, “They (parents) feel that the Nigerian state has abandoned them. They have not eaten for two days; they all wore black, they don’t have hope. The only hope they have is the parliament.
“They have sent us to you, Mr Speaker. They have asked us to please, plead with you to ensure that their plights over their missing kids are immediately addressed. Their kids have been missing for 55 days.
“They were also so concerned that in their depression, they also asked that we speak on behalf of the kids that were abducted from Greenfield University as well.”
Responding, Gbajabiamila said, “The special committee, in the meantime, will look into it and liaise with all relevant authorities, including the state government in Kaduna, on how to deal with this matter.”
Earlier, the parents and students’ union of the college, while at the National Assembly gate, sought the intervention of the lawmakers.
The protesters led by Abdullahi Usman told journalists they wanted the lawmakers to prevail on security agencies to rescue their children.
Usman partly said, “Now, they have spent 55 days in captivity and we are still counting. There is no hope. Kaduna State Government said they cannot do anything. Even the Ministry of Environment, which supervises the team, is not doing anything.”
A parent of one of the kidnapped students, Rabbi Zacharia Maggaji said, “Please, I want to talk to my son; he is the only person I have. It is me that has been training him. I don’t have any husband. I want to see my son; let the government help me.”
However, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the Federal Government and the Kaduna State Government were working round the clock to ensure the kidnapped Kaduna students were released.
Mohammed, who made this remark at a press conference in Abuja, said, “Both the Federal Government and the Kaduna State Government are working round the clock to ensure that the students are released.
