Parents of the abducted students of the College of Forestry Mechanization Afaka in Kaduna State have occupied the National Assembly complex, Abuja, in protest.
The protesters which include members of the Students Union Government (SUG) of the institution are lamenting over what they described as the negligence of the state and Federal Government in securing the release of the children.
They chanted songs of solidarity and displayed placards demanding prompt rescue of the students. “Education is our right! Safety is our right! Freedom is our right!, Free Afaka 29! ” the parents and students chanted as they marched to the National Assembly.
The protesters joined by the Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore and Deji Adeyanju had earlier gathered at the Unity Fountain and proceeded to the National Assembly complex.
Gunmen raided a college in northwestern Nigeria and kidnapped 39 students, government officials and parents said Friday, in the latest mass abduction targeting a school.
The abductors stormed the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization in Mando, Kaduna state, around 9:30 p.m. (2030 GMT) Thursday, shooting indiscriminately before taking students.
The Kaduna college was said to have some 300 male and female students, mostly aged 17 and older, at the time of the attack.
Kaduna state commissioner for internal security Samuel Aruwan said 39 of the students were missing while the army was able to rescue 180 people after a battle with the gunmen.
Aruwan had said the state government “is maintaining close communication with the management of the college as efforts are sustained by security agencies toward the tracking of the missing students.”
