Banditry: Reactions trail Niger govt’s plan to relocate schools to Minna

Banditry activities have continued to hinder the right to education of many children, especially those in rural communities of Rafi, Shiroro, Munya, Mariga, Mashegu, Rijau, Wushishi and parts of Kontagora local government areas where attacks have festered in the last eight years.

Data from the State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs recently showed that 11, 113 children have already been out of school while over 400 primary and secondary schools have been closed due to activities of bandits.

While this has continued to raise concerns among parents of affected children, experts, government and international organisations, the new plan by the state government to relocate some boarding schools from the affected communities to Minna, the state capital, as a measure to allow children continue with education has continued to generate reactions from experts and the affected communities.

Residents of the banditry infested communities argue that relocating schools meant that government has given up on the fight against the attackers, saying that many of their children, especially the girl child, would find it difficult to travel the distance to access the schools in their new locations.

Banditry: Reactions trail Niger govt’s plan to relocate schools to Minna

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Already, the State Teachers Professional Development Institute, originally situated at the Mararaban-Dandaudu, Munya LGA, had been relocated to Minna due to incessant attacks on communities in the area.

The schools that have remained closed for the past four years and expected to be relocated include Government Science College, Kagara and Mamman Kontagora Technical College, Pandogari, both in Rafi LGA; Government Secondary School, Nasko; Government Vocational and Technical College, Rijau; that were all boarding schools.

Daily Trust Saturday recalls that Government Science College Kagara was attacked in February 2021 during which students and teachers were kidnapped by bandits. Following the incident, all the boarding schools and primary schools that were prone to attacks had been closed since 2021.

Consequently, one of the IDPs in Kagara, Usman Umar, said “the relocation government wants to do means that banditry has come to stay? Instead of relocating schools, government should provide adequate security in those schools, especially the Government Science College Kagara, to protect students and their teachers. But why won’t government tackle banditry instead of this decision?”

Another resident, Mohammed Abdullahi, who expressed concerns over the impact the relocation, especially of Government Science College Kagara, would have on children in the area, said since the closure of the college by the immediate past administration, many students who had reached the peak in their secondary school education dropped out of school because their parents didn’t want them to travel far due to the insecurity problem.

“The relocation will not be in our favour. It will significantly affect the education of our children. A lot of our children who have passion in science related areas will be affected by the relocation of Science College Kagara, even on a temporary basis. They will not feel comfortable going out of their locality, particularly because of the current insecurity situation. The school should be left in Kagara while adequate security is provided. Right now, before we travel out of Kagara, we would have to confirm the security situation and movement of bandits on our roads from villages around the routes,” he said.

Residents told Daily Trust Saturday that the Mamman Kontagora Technical College Pandogari, another boarding school in Rafi LGA, as well as Government Secondary School, also in Pandogari, had been under lock and key for the past three years, noting that the only two secondary schools left open for learning in Rafi LGA are Salihu Tanko Day Secondary school and Attahiru Day Secondary School, both in Kagara, the headquarters of the local government.

Another resident who spoke on condition of anonymity said “as I speak with you, when Science College Kagara was attacked and eventually closed, some students from Rafi LGA fell back to the two day secondary schools in Kagara to continue as Art or Commercial students but many students dropped out, especially those who said their passion was to major in science-related areas. They completely stopped schooling. They said they cannot go to any school other than science college because their aim was to become scientists. So, they felt what was the essence of falling back to a commercial or Art schools after they had gone far in the science college.”

He said even if government considers taking the responsibility of transporting the students from their respective localities to Minna “issue of transportation of children to Minna is not the major concern of parents. Many parents in this locality are afraid to release their children to travel to a far place because the trend of gangsterism in Minna between various groups has created fear in the minds of many parents, even in villages. So, parents wouldn’t want their children recruited into those criminal gang groups if they bring them to Minna. So. the best thing government should do is to deploy more security to the affected areas and station them in those schools.”

Daily Trust Saturday gathered that about 11 nomadic schools in Rafi LGA have been forced to close by bandits while most of the pupils attending those schools have dropped out of school.

Abdulmalik Mohammed, an IDP, said “Aside these 11 nomadic primary schools, many other primary schools have also been closed. For instance, Madaka, Uregi, Kukogi, and many other primary schools in Rafi and Shiroro LGAs have been closed. The primary schools in Luga, Faran-Kasa and Tashan-Dogo, among other villages in Rafi LGA, have been closed and bandits are now using them to keep their abductees because residents have all fled to Kagara.”

A social and political analyst, Baba Muhammad Dzukogi, said “Deploying heavy security personnel to the affected schools in their localities will be more cost-effective. Also, turning the schools to temporary de-boarding type (day school) with security solves the problem. I think proper assessment needs to be taken on this move.”

He, however, said building mega schools in Minna as planned by the state government would also help solve the problem of congestion and over population of existing boarding schools in the state capital.

When contacted, the State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Hadiza Asabe Mohammed, said government was ready to build mega schools with modern facilities before the relocation, adding that only boarding schools that are prone to attacks would be moved to Minna while primary and secondary day schools prone to attacks would be moved to safer places within the localities.

“It is a very simple thing because if you look at a lot of our schools that have been closed down, they are old fashion schools and His Excellency, Hon. Mohammed Umaru Bago, is coming with a new concept of these mega schools. So, what we are talking about is bringing these mega schools to the state and moving most of these schools that have been vulnerable to attacks to the state capital. For safety, these mega schools would be housing a lot of students as boarders. For example, Government Science College Kagara, which has been forced by bandits to close, can have the main campus in Kagara but because of the situation we now find ourselves, it is our intention that when we build these mega schools, the students would be housed in these mega schools in the city but the school would still be named Government Science College Kagara.”

“We hope that in the nearest future, we will go back to those schools and they will still maintain their original names. It is not as if we are killing the schools from their original source. We are just trying to annex the schools to a safer environment and the priority of mega schools is for those that have been displaced by banditry,” she explained.

She said when government is done relocation, “there would be lot of advocacies to the affected communities to educate and convince the parents that the decision is for the safety of these children. And I think by the time they come around to see the kind of structures we have put in place for their children, I don’t think any parent will refuse bringing his child to such school. What is required is advocacy and we will do it, and parents will appreciate what the government has put in place.

The Niger State Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Maurice Magaji, who first revealed the relocation plan at the post State Executive Council media briefing at the Government House Minna, said Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago has given an executive order to his ministry to take back the school lands encroached by individuals in Minna to give room for easy expansion.

“Those who have their houses sharing fence with schools or even those whose lands encroached into schools, especially in Minna, are to, as a matter of urgency, vacate such premises.

“The reason is that we intend to move schools that are in bandits ravaged areas to Minna pending when the security situation is addressed to give the children in the affected areas the opportunity to continue to study,” he said.