The Federal Government has drawn the battle line against student kidnappers, ordering Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions to throw out students found guilty of plotting or participating in kidnapping.
Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, gave Vice-Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts across the country a clear marching order: investigate suspected student kidnappers and expel those found culpable.
His warning was blunt.
“Any student found culpable, after due investigation, of planning or participating in the kidnapping of fellow students has no place in our tertiary institutions. Such individuals must be dismissed.”
Alausa issued the directive on Tuesday during a meeting with the Pro-Chancellor, Governing Council and Management of the Federal University of Lafia, Nasarawa State, in Abuja.
He also ordered tertiary institutions to beef up intelligence gathering and strengthen collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies.
According to him, while campuses remain largely safe, incidents involving students outside the school environment have made stronger security measures necessary.
“We have a collective responsibility to protect every Nigerian child, from primary school to tertiary education,” Alausa said.
The minister warned school authorities against tolerating criminal behaviour, saying it could eventually become entrenched.
“If you tolerate bad behaviour for too long, it becomes a culture,” he said.
He also renewed the Federal Government’s opposition to ransom payments and negotiations with kidnappers, warning that such actions could embolden criminal elements.
But the meeting took a more disturbing turn when the Pro-Chancellor of the Federal University of Lafia, Lola Fibisola Akande, disclosed that some students were suspected of involvement in kidnapping activities outside the university.
The revelation came as the institution listed inadequate hostel accommodation, electricity and insecurity among its major challenges.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government plans to strengthen security infrastructure in tertiary institutions.
Alausa disclosed that projects including perimeter fencing would receive support under the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) 2027 intervention programme.
He also announced plans to expand the Energising Education Programme, with greater investment in solar power generation and battery storage.
The university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mohammed Isa Kida, commended the minister’s reforms and appealed for the extension of the power programme to the institution’s second campus.
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