Nigeria to relocate 359 schools due to security issues

By Timothy Olanrewaju

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) – Nigeria has announced a plan to relocate 359 schools due to security issues in the country’s northwest.

Mohammed Sani Kila, the chief of staff to the governor of Kaduna State, announced Wednesday that 359 schools in vulnerable communities will be relocated to safer areas and merge with other schools to prevent attacks from bandits and terrorists.

He said the state faces a decline in the enrolment of school-age children due to incessant attacks on schools and kidnapping by armed groups.

“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," he said at the start of training for the Schools Protection Squad in Kaduna, where he represented the governor.

He described as dramatic the drop in student enrolment from 2,111,969 in the 2021/2022 academic session to 1,734,704 in 2022/2023, attributing it to the security challenge.

The Schools Protection Squad is a national initiative to keep schools safe and secure, ensuring that teachers and students are protected from all forms of attacks.

Nigeria is facing incessant attacks on schools by armed gangs. At least 137 students were abducted at a public school in Kaduna State on March 8, a few days after gunmen kidnapped 15 Islamic School students.