Senator representing Bauch Central, Abdul Ningi, has urged federal government to parade and prosecute kidnappers of Oyo schoolchildren and teachers to serve as deterrents for others.

Mr Nnigi, who stated this during plenary on Wednesday, added that delayed prosecution of the suspects could erode public confidence in public institutions.

“What is important going forward now is to take a cue. Now we have people arrested, they must be paraded, prosecuted and let the law take its full course.

“Delayed prosecution will create another impression that something is wrong. I therefore call on the security agency to prosecute, parade, and use them as an example,” the lawmaker said.

The senator, who commended the rescue operation, also urged the Oyo State goverment to hire psychologists to heal the pupils, adding the federal government should tangibly compensate officers killed in the operation.

“We have had stories of rescue and a lot of people have reservations. This particular rescue is real looking at the officers that lost their lives, their religious backgrounds and their ethnic identities. It gives you a complete impression that this is a Nigerian operation.

“It is clear that this abduction has nothing to do with religion; it has everything to do with money and business. When you see toddlers confined to this ordeal, I begin to ask myself that how will these people build Nigeria when they grow up. I urged the Oyo State government to get psychologists for the children. The government should also do something tangible for officers who lost their lives during the operations,” he added.

Mr Ningi’s statement followed the rescue of the 44 hostages last Friday, in what the Nigerian government described as an intelligence-led operation involving operatives from multiple security agencies, including the State Security Service and the military.

Two of the seven teachers were, however, killed by the terrorists while in captivity.

The army, in a recent statement, attributed the unconditional release of the hostages to the arrests of individuals linked to their abductors. 

It noted that the operations were carefully planned and executed to avoid any collateral damage, adding that some security operatives, however, lost their lives during the rescue operation.

Meanwhile, Oyo Governor Seyi Makinde has called on international bodies, including the United Nations, to investigate the abduction, identify lapses that occurred during the incident, and prevent a recurrence.