The PUNCH learnt on Sunday that no fewer than eight schools had been shut down in Plateau State as a result of attacks and killings by bandits.
An investigation by our correspondent revealed that the schools shut down included Local Education Authority Primary School, Pinau community; LEA Primary School, Gumbi; LEA Primary School in Bangalala; and the LEA Primary School in New Zak, all in the Wase Local Government Area of the state.
Other schools also closed, according to the findings, included those in Sanfio and Dogo Ruwa communities as well as the primary school located in the Yaje Lawal community in the same Wase LGA, among others.
The PUNCH had reported that bandits had been terrorising residents of Wase LGA in the past months, with the latest being an attack by gunmen on the Nyalun community, which led to the killing of the village head, Salisu Idris, and two other residents last week.
Some parents in the affected communities who spoke to The PUNCH in Jos on Sunday decried the situation, describing the closure of the schools as unfortunate.
A parent, Baba Yusuf, who had his two children in LEA Primary School, Pinau Community, said, “I have two children in LEA primary school in Pinau but they have stopped going to school because the school was closed as a result of insecurity. I think the primary school was closed to save the children from harm because some bandits have been terrorising us here.
“It is not only in the Pinau community alone. The same thing is happening in other communities in Wase, which made them close down the schools as well. Since the last term, when the schools were closed, they have not been reopened even when other schools resumed for a fresh term in September this year. Children are stranded without knowing where to go.”
The Executive Chairman of the Plateau State Universal Basic Education Board, Prof. Matthew Sule, in an interview with The PUNCH, also confirmed the shutting down of the schools due to insecurity.
Sule said, “Yes, it is true. In about five schools in Wase communities, learning isn’t taking place there right now because of the security challenges we are having in those communities.
“The children did not sit for examination during the last term on account of what was happening because we had to close down the schools before we ended the third term and the affected schools are yet to be reopened. So, we are waiting for the situation to improve before the children can be brought back to the affected schools. But we have asked that the children be moved to safer areas where there are schools to enable them to continue with their education.”
When contacted, the spokesman for the Military Task Force, Operation Safe Haven, in charge of maintaining peace in the state, Capt. Oya James, said, “As I’m talking with you now, troops of Operation Safe Haven are still there in Wase for clearance operations. Even last week, we had an air strike in that same area. So, we are doing our best to address this problem of banditry in Wase LGA.”
The military spokesman appealed to the people to assist the task force and other security agents with timely information about the activities of the terrorists to enable them to perform their duties.
