SAN FRANCISCO, July 03, (THEWILL) – Members of the House of Representatives Thursday called on the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure that perimeter fences are built around all unity schools in the country to prevent attacks from the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
The House consequently mandated its committee on education to liaise with the ministry to ensure compliance.
It also mandated the committee to carry out an appraisal of all Federal Government Secondary Schools to ascertain those that do not have perimeter fences.
The decision was taken after a motion sponsored by Hon. Evelyn Omavowan Oboro (PDP, Delta) was unanimously adopted at the plenary.
In her lead debate, the lawmaker had expressed worry over lack of fencing in most of the unity schools which are located in rural areas.
She said the absence of perimeter fencing in the Unity Schools poses danger to innocent students, recalling that hoodlums had on October 27, 2011 forced their way into the hostel of St. Anne’s Secondary School, Molete, Ibadan, Oyo State and raped four female students to the point of coma.
The lawmaker also drew the attention of her colleagues to another incident at a Girls School in Kano where armed robbers attacked the school in October 2012, saying these incidences were preventable.
According to her, the lack of basic amenities such as potable water, which often “forces the students to wander in search of water, and are thereby exposed to risk of not only harassment from people but also to dangerous reptiles, as was the case with Government Secondary School, Lugbe, Abuja.”
Schools in different parts of the country have witnessed series of attacks from hoodlums and terrorists, especially in the northern part of the country, namely Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Jigawa and Kano States.
SAINT MUGAGA, ABUJA
