13 Schools Forced to Close amid Violent Attacks, Mass Kidnappings in Nigeria
Thirteen schools, most of them Christian, in a Nigerian area have had to close after an increasing number of kidnappings at the schools.
According to CBN News, the closures come about a week after 121 students were abducted by armed kidnappers at Bethel Baptist High School in Damishi, Nigeria. The Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority ordered the shutdown.
The abduction was the fourth kidnapping of students in Kaduna State in six months. In Nigeria, there have been seven student kidnappings just this year.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Kaduna state, who continue to bear the brunt of a critical security failure,” said CSW’s CEO Scot Bower. “The closures and withdrawal of children from educational facilities is a desperate measure, giving the unfortunate impression of an inability to address a situation that has been allowed to spiral inexorably.
“This decision is likely to hurt the education and future prospects of the students concerned, while merely offering a short-term solution to a phenomenon which is part of a state-wide crisis requiring a comprehensive response. As the other attacks that occurred clearly illustrate, people are no longer safe in hospitals, let alone in their own homes.”
Kaduna state education commissioner Shehu Usman Muhammad said he is working to increase security at Nigerian schools.
“Each time there is a kidnapping … it does also create [a] negative impact on the children in other parts of the state,” Muhammad told Reuters.
In June, 100 gunmen attacked a Nigerian college, killing one police officer and a student and abducting four teachers and 70 students.
In February, hundreds of girls were taken from the Government Secondary Jangebe School in Zamfara state during a raid by armed men.
In 2014, the Boko Haram extremist group made headlines when the group abducted nearly 270 schoolgirls from a school in Chibok, Borno State in Nigeria.
Photo courtesy: McBarth Obeya/Pexels
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
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