The JNI also urged government to reclaim forests where bandits hide to terrorise citizens.
Dr. Kahlid Aliyu, the Secretary-General of JNI, made the appeal in a statement issued on Friday in Kaduna.
He spoke in reaction to the kidnapping of some students and teachers of Government Science Secondary School, Kagara in Niger.
The secretary general also urged the federal government to take decisive and bold actions in tackling insecurity threatening the country.
He further called on the newly appointed service chiefs to see the unfortunate kidnap and abduction in Niger as a wakeup call and a litmus test.
According to the statement, his Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, is in utter disbelief and astonishment that students could be abducted from school, despite the not too long ago Kankara episode.
“This is absolutely incredible, despicable and condemnable.
“Ordinarily, the school abduction should have been averted, if there was adequate security surveillance and alertness around our boarding schools.
“These unfortunate trends are becoming the new normal.
“Worst still, Kagara town and by extension Niger State has become infamous, given the serial attacks by bandits and other criminals in recent past.
“Isn’t intelligence part of security networking, why is it that these repeated actions have continued clandestinely without trace?,” the statement read in part.
It further noted that the government seemed not to have learnt adequate lessons from the Chibok, Dapchi and Kankara debacles.
“Unfortunately, these hapless situations appear to have escaped our memories.
“What perplexes us in recent years of these kidnappings and abductions is that criminals brazenly act unchallenged,” he stressed
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The secretary general observed that Boko Haram might have infiltrated to areas where banditry now thrives.
“Make no mistake, the abduction is a classic example of the philosophical foundation of Boko Haram – that western education is forbidden.
“That is why their targets are always on boarding schools, especially science schools, considered atheistic in pedagogy.
“Government must nevertheless, do everything possible to enhance and secure the territorial integrity of Nigeria from criminalities and spare no efforts to immediately return all the kidnapped passengers and the abducted staff and students unscathed,” he emphasised.
Besides, Aliyu called on the federal government to begin outlining its priorities on the security challenges bedeviling the country and frontally rise against the surge, through proactive measures, before it degenerates further.
“Nigerian citizens are all implored to see this insecurity challenge as a national disaster that needs our respective, patriotic and collective support, by way of divulging relevant intelligence to those concerned.
“Any suspicious activities in or around our domains, should be reported so as to finally bring an end to this scourge.
“In the same vein, government should as a matter of national emergency secure all forests in Nigeria.
“Government should engage willing Nigerians under whatever nomenclature, to help clear-off the forest reserves from undesirable elements while maintaining our natural environment and eco-system,” he stressed.
The scribe called for continuous prayers to Allah for an end to the security challenges, “while we also make amends in our dealings and interactions”. (NAN)
