Kebbi State has shut seven vulnerable schools following the recent abduction of students and teachers of Federal Government College (FGC) Birnin Yauri by bandits.
The shutdown was announced by the Chairman, Kebbi chapter of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), Isah Arzika.
He said the shut schools are in vulnerable areas of the state believed to be soft targets of bandits; and that the move was a proactive measure to prevent another abduction.
The NUT Chairman noted that the state government had directed all principals to close any school considered not safe.
Arzika said, “Police and vigilante groups had since been deployed for monitoring and protection of schools.
“This is 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.
“Government has given us an order and option to take any necessary action as far as our schools are concerned. That we can close those 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 areas and not safe, we would just ask the students to pack and go home, pending the time the situation normalizes.”
