Niger state government orders closure of all schools until after New Year

Barely 24 hours after gunmen abducted over 300 students from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area, the governor of Niger state, Mohammed Bago, has ordered the closure of all schools across the state until after the New Year while the schools in security affected areas in the State will be shut down until further notice.

The Governor made this known while fielding questions from newsmen in Minna, the state capital after a security and stakeholders meeting in Government House over the current security situation in the state.

According to the Governor, the closure affects both private and public schools, Islamic and missionary schools, federal government colleges and some tertiary institutions like schools of nursing and midwifery.

The Governor stated the schools will be shut down until after the New Year while those in security affected areas will be shut down until further notice.

Speaking about the abduction, Governor Bago said it was an incident that could have been avoided, however, the government would not use its time for blame games but to look at ways of rescuing the abducted children.

“To forestall further occurence, schools are generally supposed to close for Christmas in the next two weeks, but we cannot take any chances anymore. We are closing all schools in Niger state, private primary and secondary schools, every school will remain closed until after the New Year while all schools in Niger North will be closed until further notice,” he stated.

The Governor said that the figures of the students, pupils and teachers abducted are not yet official,

“We have just been seeing a lot of numbers in the media but the figures are not official. The DSS, police and other security agencies are already doing the head count and by the end of today, we will have the official figure” he said

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