Connect with us

News

Kebbi govt orders closure of seven schools over insecurity

Published

on

The Kebbi State government has ordered the closure of at least seven schools following the attack on Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri, by suspected bandits.

The Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) in the state, Alhaji Isah Arzika, disclosed this to journalists on Sunday.

He said the affected schools were those located in areas prone to attacks by bandits.

According to him, the state government had directed all school principals to close any school which they believed were not safe.

He added that police and vigilantes had also been deployed to the schools for monitoring and protection.

Armed bandits had last abducted 80 students and staff from the college.

However, the military later rescued seven students and one teacher after a gun duel with the hoodlums.

READ ALSO: Kebbi Gov, Bagudu, vows to lead operation against bandits from the front

Arzika said: “On these proactive measures, as you all know, we are part of the system. Because principals are teachers, all the directors at the Board are also teachers. It is the decision that we all took that is affecting us.

“The government has given us an order and option to take any necessary action as far as our schools are concerned. The government has ordered the closure of schools which we think are not safe and prone to attacks in the areas close to the forest.”

“I am not talking about only boarding schools, any school that is on the frontline and it is not safe, we would just ask the students to pack and go home, pending the time the situation normalises.”

“Before now, the state government had recruited large number of vigilante members to look over our schools and we are very much satisfied with what the government has done.

“Some of these schools that I am talking about have policemen attached to them, honestly, we are satisfied with the government actions.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now