Nigerians have criticised the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, for linking recent protests across the country, including a demonstration by members of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) in Abuja, to political motives.

Many Nigerians, however, rejected the characterisation, stressing that the kidnapping of schoolchildren and teachers is not a political issue but a national emergency that requires urgent attention.

Wike, who addressed the aggrieved teachers during their protest at the Federal Capital Territory Administration Secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday, said the demonstrations had political undertones.

He said, “In FCT, teachers have been kidnapped before. Why was there no protest in the country? Does it mean that the teachers in Abuja are not important?”

Reacting to the development, a broadcaster, Ayo Mairo-Ese, faulted the minister for making such comments while traumatised schoolchildren are watching how their colleagues are being treated in kidnappers’ dens.

Mairo-Ese, who spoke during a programme on Arise TV yesterday, insisted that the teachers had the right to protest and withdraw their services if the government could not guarantee their safety at work.

She said: “With regards to Mr Wike, I’m very disappointed. He has made a number of statements that would shock Nigerians. We’ve known him to be quite garrulous in the way he speaks. But how can you say in one breath that people should not politicise the matter and, in the same breath, do exactly what you warned against by giving it political colouration and even comparing the fact that teachers are being kidnapped in Abuja?

“There is only so far you can push a man or woman. After a while, they reach a breaking point, and the only thing left is to react. That is what this government does not want.

“We are trying to prevent a situation where Nigerians, who are perhaps among the most long-suffering people, get to a point where they say, ‘Enough is enough, we cannot take this any longer.’ You may have had hundreds of kidnapping incidents in Abuja, but one day, when people rise up because of the lack of attention to the issue, you cannot blame them for speaking out and then give it political colouration by asking, ‘Why is it happening now?’ Nigerians are angry.”

She argued that, given the rising cases of kidnappings targeting schoolchildren, particularly in Oyo and Borno states, protests should be organised to compel the government to respond swiftly.

Also reacting, Martins Otse, popularly known as VDM, criticised the minister for downplaying the increasing cases of schoolchildren abductions in the country.

He argued that many political leaders may not fully understand the pain affected families are going through, noting that several of them do not have their children enrolled in schools in Nigeria.

He said, “I don’t blame you. You all moved your children away from the insecurity and sent them abroad to school, while the poor man’s children suffer from the insecurity you cannot protect us from.

“Over 45 children have been in the bush for more than two weeks, in the cold, under the rain and in the sun. We do not know what they are eating or whether they even have blankets to cover themselves in places where there are snakes and scorpions.” (Guardian)

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