✔130 secondary schools in Zamfara deserted communities shut
✔315 secondary schools in Kebbi lack security, says NUT chairman
✔No school safe until govt negotiates with bandits – Sheik Gumi
North-West states are currently battling with the problem of inadequate security agents to man schools as fears of bandits’ attacks rise, The PUNCH has learnt.
It was gathered that rising insecurity had started having negative impacts on the education system of the states with many of them shutting down some schools.
It was learnt that states where bandits’ attacks had led to shutting down or reduction of facilities included Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina and Sokoto.
The PUNCH learnt that the bandits had devised a fresh strategy of attacking schools in large numbers to overpower security agents guarding the schools.
Recall that there have been incessant attacks on schools in Zamfara, Kebbi, Niger, Kaduna and Katsina states.
Recently, 136 pupils were abducted in an Islamic school in Tegina, a densely populated town in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State.
On Thursday, bandits overpowered 22 policemen deployed in the Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State and kidnapped scores of students and four teachers.
A top security official in Zamfara State, who confided in The PUNCH, stated, “From all indications, the bandits have sources within communities. They monitor schools and ensure that their number doubles the number of policemen posted to the schools.”
State officials, who spoke to The PUNCH, called for deployment of more policemen in schools.
On Sunday, Zamfara State Government told The PUNCH that it could not effectively secure schools without the assistance of the Federal Government.
The Director General of the Public Enlightenment, Media and Communication, Alhaji Yusuf Idris, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said security was within the purview of the Federal Government.
He added that the security agents available to man junior and senior secondary schools in the state were inadequate.
When asked if the state government could effectively secure the schools, Idris said, “This is beyond the power of the state government because as you are aware, only the Federal Government controls the security personnel. Inadequate number of security personnel is one of our major problems.”
Idris said the state government had not rescinded its decision to convert all boarding schools in the state into day schools.
He stated, “The state government has temporarily cancelled the boarding school system. The students can report to their classes during the day time and return to their homes after school hours.
“It is now clear that the abductors usually carry out their heinous activities in the night, as such, the state government has banned the boarding school system.”
Idris also said the state government has drafted security personnel to the schools that were considered vulnerable to bandits’ attacks.
It was learnt that 130 junior secondary schools in communities, which had been deserted due to bandits’ attacks, had been closed down.
Although the Katsina State Government was collaborating with security agents, it was learnt that the security agents available were not enough to guard 340 secondary schools in the state.
A top official of the state, who confided in The PUNCH, said, “There has been cooperation between the state government and security agents, but there is no way enough policemen can be posted to the schools when sometimes 100 bandits bearing AK47 can storm a school.
“With the number of policemen we have in the country…
