The Zamfara government has ordered that 10 schools across the state be shut down over fears students could be abducted by bandits.
The decision comes on the heels of last week’s attack on Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina State that has left at least 333 students unaccounted for and believed to be in custody of the kidnappers.
Zamfara’s Commissioner for Education, Ibrahim Abdullahi, announced at a media briefing on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 that the affected schools are those that share borders with Katsina, Kaduna, and Sokoto, all similarly troubled by the activities of bandits.
“We will not want what happened in Katsina to happen in Zamfara State,” he said.
The affected schools are GSS, Tsafe; GSS, Magaji; GASS, Zurmi; GGSS, Moriki; GDSS, Nasarawa Mailayi; GDSS, Gusami; and GDSS, Gurbin Bore.
Others are Science Secondary School, Shinkafi; Science Secondary School, Dansadau; and Science Secondary School, Bukkuyum.
“All the Principals of the affected schools have been directed to ensure immediate closure of the affected schools,” Abdullahi said.
Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, has claimed responsibility for the attack, a repeat of the abductions of schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno in 2014, and Dapchi, Yobe in 2018.
The group’s activities have been largely restricted to the northeast region over the past 10 years, with criminal activities in the northwest attributed to standalone bandits.
The terrorists’ strike in Katsina confirms public theories that the insecurity in the northwest is directly linked to Boko Haram which has killed over 30,000 people in the past decade.
