Parents plan to withdraw wards from Taraba boarding schools

Parents and guardians in Taraba State are peeved at the inability of the northern governors and the Federal Government to protect their wards.

The least they expected was the building of walls around schools in the north to protect the schools from invaders.

Some parents and guardians in Taraba told The Guardian yesterday that they had concluded plans to withdraw their children from boarding schools across state.

Citing the incessant invasion of schools and kidnap of pupils in some northern states, they said the era when parents derived joy in sending their children to boarding schools was over.

The parents insisted that they would not to allow their children to go back to their various boarding schools when they come home for the Easter holiday, as a stitch in time saves nine.

A parent, who gave her name as Madam Edith, said: “As I am talking with you now, all my three children are in boarding schools here in Taraba. So, would you expect me to be a t peace, considering all these bad news we have being hearing from Kaduna, Zamfara and Niger states? Who knows which school would be their next target?”

Confirming the parents’ resolve, some principals told The Guardian: “Since the kidnap of students started, we have not rested because parents have being bugging us with telephone calls.”

The principals, who pleaded anonymity, added: “On our own part, we are trying to ensure their safety; but more still have to be done by the government.

“Fencing the schools and assigning some security operatives to patrol in and around them will go a long way in preventing the kidnappers from accessing any of the boarding schools in the state.”

At the state police command, efforts are being made to frustrate the hoodlums, who have being making life miserable for the populace, according to a senior official who also would not want his name in print.

Also, the acting Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Reha Reform, said the command was leaving no stone unturned to frustrate kidnappers who were terrorising the state.