Katsina abducted students: Arewa group plans mass protest

As reactions continue to trail last Saturday’s abduction of Government Science Secondary School Students, Kankara in Katsina State, the Arewa Sociocultural organisation under the aegis of Coalition of Northern Groups said it would begin agitation for their release on Thursday.

The 333 students were abducted from school by suspected bandits, but which Boko Haram later claimed responsibility.

The Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Coalition of Northern Group, (CNG), Nastura Ashir Shariff said they will mobilise their members from Jigawa, Kano and Katsina to compel government into action for the quick release of the abducted students.

The spokesperson for the CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said this in a statement made available to journalists on Wednesday titled, ‘CNG storms Katsina, to kick off #Bringbackourboys protests Thursday’.

But our correspondent gathered that Katsina residents are opposed to the planned protest to allow government to concentrate on the release of the abducted students.

In the planned protest, the group said, will take off in Katsina on Thursday and would proceed to Daura, which is President Muhammadu Buhari’s place to register his concerns.

“Led by its Board of Trustees Chairman Nastura Ashir Shariff, the CNG is already in touch with parents of the stolen schoolchildren and assured them of support through this trial moment.

“It will be unreasonable to expect any northerner and well meaning Nigerians to fold their arms and watch the North, a significant component of the country, abandoned to the mercy of bandits, murderers and kidnappers.

“The police in Katsina are seen in a massive reinforcement around the state which calls for caution on the part of authorities against attempts at suppressing legitimate protests that will be conducted peacefully.”

More so, parents of the kidnapped children keep mounting pressure, as they continue to throng the school in expectation of seeing their children.

One of the parents, Hajiya Binta Muhammad, in an interview said she would not be tired of going to the school until her son, Muhammad, was set free.

The woman, who spoke in Hausa through an interpreter in Kankara on Wednesday, said, “I have been coming to Kankara since Saturday, hoping that my son would be freed and return home with me. I will be coming to the school until my son is rescued. I will not be tired of coming here.”

Another woman, Murjanatu Danja, said, “My husband and I have been coming here since Saturday, hoping that our son, Hussaina Nasiru, will be brought back. Yesterday (Tuesday), my husband was here while I am here today. We are appealing to the government to ensure quick release of our children.”