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In another unsettling development, young Nigerian women have once again fallen victim to kidnappings by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), as reported on Sunday.
This surge in violence has compelled the Bauchi state government in Nigeria to take precautionary measures by shutting down all educational institutions, both public and private.
The latest abduction involved 13 girls aged between 15 and 20, who were taken while working on farms in the Askira-Uba region of Borno state. The girls were reportedly seized while harvesting crops. One managed to escape and reunite with her family, but the fate of the others remained uncertain as of Monday afternoon.
Local officials have suggested the culprits could be affiliated with either Boko Haram or ISWAP. However, Borno state police have stated that the “details are still sketchy.”
This incident in Askira-Uba is just the latest in a series of kidnappings and violent assaults in recent weeks. The most significant attack took place on Friday in central Nigeria, where armed groups referred to as “bandits” abducted over 300 individuals from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Niger state.
According to school officials, 50 of the students abducted from St. Mary’s were able to escape from their captors, some with the help of local farmers.
Five days before that, another swarm of “bandits” kidnapped 25 students from a girls’ boarding school in the state of Kebbi, and dozens of worshipers were taken from a church in the rural state of Kwara by violent masked gunmen who murdered the church pastor.
The government of Bauchi state on Monday announced the immediate shuttering of all primary, secondary, and tertiary schools, public and private. State officials said they were reluctant to take such drastic measures, but “the protection of our children remains our highest moral responsibility.”
“Every student in Bauchi State deserves to learn in an environment that is safe, stable, and free of fear. We, therefore, call on parents, guardians, school proprietors, and all concerned stakeholders not to panic, but to remain calm and cooperative,” the state government said.
“The government is working closely with security agencies to address the concerns swiftly and comprehensively, ensuring that normal academic activities resume as soon as it is safe to do so,” the statement added.
Several other states have reportedly followed suit, including Papiri state, where St. Mary’s Catholic School is located. In fact, Papiri state officials claimed they ordered St. Mary’s to suspend operations before the mass kidnapping, due to “credible” security threats, but the school had reopened without authorization.
The Nigerian federal government also ordered 47 federal colleges to be closed, most of them located in the northern part of the country. Other state governments have instructed boarding schools to send their students home.
Ahmed Usman, a special adviser to the governor of the northwestern state of Sokoto, strenuously objected to the school shutdown order on Sunday because it is a “serious setback” to education and could “encourage the perpetrators” by showing weakness.
“Instead, the government should rise to the occasion and address the insecurity in our region and country, perhaps by applying both kinetic and non-kinetic measures,” said Usman, a retired military officer.
Nigeria’s Business Day published an editorial on Sunday calling the school shutdowns a “grim new chapter” in the “long-running battle with insecurity.”
“State governments are closing school gates, instead of reinforcing them. This wave of deliberate shutdowns, sweeping across states, is a stark admission that authorities can no longer guarantee the safety of students,” Business Day wrote.
