The Kaduna State government has disclosed plans to merge a total of 359 schools over incessant activities of bandits which had resulted in cases of abduction and kidnapping in the state.
Speaking at a stakeholders forum and the training of the Schools’ Protection Squad on Wednesday, Governor Uba Sani represented by his Chief of Staff, Sani Kila, said the schools in vulnerable communities would be merged with those in safe locations, as part of measures to safeguard the schools and children from being attacked by bandits.
According to him, the launched school protection squad under the Federal Government’s Safe School Initiative is aimed at securing schools, children, and teachers from all forms of attacks by bandits and terrorists.
While noting that Kaduna is one of the states that have been waging a sustained battle against banditry, terrorism, kidnapping, and other forms of criminality, Kila lamented that the activities of non-state actors, have disrupted socio-economic activities in the affected communities, and are threatening the educational revitalisation programme of the state.
“Incidents like the kidnapping of 135 students from the LEA Primary and Junior Secondary School, Kuriga, Chikun Local Government tragically illustrates the devastating impact of insecurity on education access and safety.
“To ensure that the education of our children in conflict-prone and terrorists-infested areas is not interrupted, we have commenced the merging of 359 schools with those in safe locations,” the governor said.
Sani lamented what he described as the alarming drop in school enrolment rate in the state due to insecurity.
“Kaduna State’s educational system is facing a crisis of declining enrolment, with over 200,000 fewer primary school pupils recorded in the 2022/2023 academic session compared to the previous year.
“This dramatic drop (from 2,111,969 in 2021/2022 to 1,734,704 in 2022/2023) is largely attributed to insecurity.
“In several local government areas, particularly Chikun, Birnin Gwari, Kajuru, Giwa and Igabi, insecurity has forced school consolidation, further pushing up the number of out-of-school children.”
The governor commended the Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, for establishing the Schools Protection Squad, a proactive initiative aimed at enhancing security and safety in educational institutions across Nigeria.
