About two weeks after schools across Nigeria resumed for studies following the Yuletide break, some primary and secondary school pupils in the North-East have been afraid to go to school for fear of attacks.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that schools have remained shut for about two years in local government areas in the region where people have been displaced because of the Boko Haram insurgency.
But investigation showed that even while pupils have flooded the day schools that are open in a few local governments, there are many other pupils, particularly girls, who still dread returning to school.
A Christian religious leader in the North-East, who spoke on condition of anonymity, blamed part of the problem on unsafe roads for residents to travel.
He also said that the use of schools as IDP camps was affecting education in the region. The religious leader said, “There is still fear among the people over their safety. There are many roads up till now that are not safe for commuters and civilians. The road linking Maiduguri to Bama through Gwoza and Madagali in Adamawa State, I don’t think commuters can travel through the axis. The road is unsafe.
“Anybody who wants to travel to Yola town in Adamawa State from Maiduguri will have to travel through Potiskum, then Gombe before Yola. The road linking Maiduguri to Biu is still not safe.
“Also, anybody who travels now on Maiduguri-Chibok Road does so at his own peril. These are some of the signs that negate the fact that the insurgency has been defeated. If the insurgency has been defeated, then people should be able to travel freely and farmers should be able to return to their farms.
“If the roads are not safe, where will the pupils pass to the school? In Maiduguri, only private schools have resumed before now. In some public schools in Maiduguri, there are IDPs there. So, how do you expect normal academic activities to run where there are IDPs?”
Deputy National Chairman, Northern Elders Forum, Dr. Paul Nnongo, who also lamented the fear among pupils to return to schools, said many of them had yet to be convinced that their security would be guaranteed in their quest for education.
He said, “Some of the children may have to be convinced on the need to return to school because of their harrowing experience in the hands of the Boko Haram insurgents.
“The children were aware that the government was in place when their colleagues were being bombed and killed by the terrorists. They saw what their colleagues suffered. Some of the children are not sure that their safety will be guaranteed, even if they return to school. They are still wondering why the Chibok girls have not returned.
“The Federal Government should pay more attention to the North-East to ensure that all the children return to the classrooms.”
In Adamawa and Yobe states, the situation has been similar, particularly in the local government areas hardest hit by the insurgency.
A resident of Adamawa, Mr. Ahmed Aliu, said people had deserted Wagga village in the state, which shares border with Gwoza, a principal town in Borno State.
He said, “Therefore, schools cannot open to pupils in a place like Wagga and the entire Madagali Local Government Area in Adamawa State. In fact, no school is open in all the villages in Adamawa State that share borders with Borno State. No one can open any school there and no pupil can attend school because of the fear of attack by insurgents.”
Saturday PUNCH investigation revealed that schools have been shut for about two years in local government areas in the region where persons have been displaced because of the Boko Haram insurgency.
For instance, one of our correspondents learnt that schools are still closed in about 20 of the 27 local government areas in Borno State.
An official of the Borno State Universal Basic Education Board, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said some schools in the state, particularly boarding schools, have been closed down for about two years.
The official said only day schools in a few local governments in the state are open to pupils as residents of other local governments have had to vacate their homes.
“In Bama and Gwoza, schools are completely closed,” the official said, adding, “The private schools that are opened are the ones situated in local governments where people were displaced, which include Maiduguri, Biu, Kwaya Kusar, Hawul, Shani, Bayo and Jere.
“Most of the day schools in those places are open, but the boarding schools are still closed, and they have been closed for about two years. Most of the local governments have been displaced and most of the pupils are internally displaced persons.
“Boarding schools have not resumed because most of them are used as IDP camps. And until people vacate the IDP camps, the schools cannot reopen. The implication is that pupils from these schools have lost about two years; especially the ones who were supposed to take the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination and that of the National Examination Council.”
The official said persons from more than 20 local governments in the state now reside in Maiduguri and a few other local governments, meaning that pupils from as many as 10 schools could be attached to one.
“Some of the teachers in the local governments that were unsafe have joined the teachers in the schools that are open but a lot of them have been displaced too, so some of them are not really in the schools anymore.”
The local government areas where schools have remained closed include Mafa, Konduga, Bama, Chibok, Gwoza, Monguno, Damboa.
A member of the Civillian Joint Task Force, Abba Aji Kalli, who confirmed the situation, said schools have remained closed in local governments where people have been displaced.
He said, “The schools have reopened after the holidays, except in local governments where people have vacated as a result of Boko Haram insurgency.
“We have nine local governments in the southern part of Borno, but except Gwoza in that part, schools have resumed in others. Schools have not opened in places and local governments affected by insurgency like Mafa, Bama, Konduga and so on.”
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