Schools in several Northern Nigerian states will shut
down indefinitely from Wednesday, authorities announced, following
the mass abduction of schoolchildren by jihadist group Boko Haram.
Katsina state – where 333 students were kidnapped on Friday – has
shut its schools and nearby Zamfara, Kaduna, Jigawa and Kano states
announced they are following suit.
Ibrahim Abdullahi, Zamfara’s commissioner for education, said 10
at-risk schools were being closed down “following the recent
abduction of over 300 secondary school students at the Government
Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina state.”
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for that attack, saying they had
carried it out because Western education is un-Islamic.
Some years ago, the terrorist organisation kidnapped hundreds of girls and despite a worldwide campaign tagged #BringBackOurgirls, it is unclear if many of the abducted girls were ever found.
This recent action presents the biggest challenge, yet, to the Buhari administration as it cast doubts on its security capabilities. As for the Nigerian president, this should be personal, given that he hails for the Northern part of Nigeria where the kidnappings took place and which remains the stronghold of the terrorist organisation.
MMI
