The Kebbi State Government has ordered the immediate closure of all public and private secondary schools, as well as all tertiary institutions across the state, following a rise in violent attacks targeting educational institutions. The directive was issued in Birnin Kebbi through a joint statement by the Commissioner for Higher Education, Alhaji Issa Abubakar-Tunga, and the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Dr. Halima Bande.
According to the commissioners, the decision became necessary due to the recent surge in attacks in parts of the state, prompting urgent precautionary measures to safeguard students and staff. The affected tertiary institutions include Kebbi State Polytechnic Dakingari, Abdullahi Fodio University of Science and Technology Aliero, College of Health Sciences and Technology Jega, Adamu Augie College of Education Argungu, and the School of Remedial Studies Yauri. The only institution exempted from the shutdown is the College of Nursing Sciences and Midwifery located in the state capital, Birnin Kebbi.
School authorities across the state were instructed to comply immediately and await further communication on when academic activities will resume. The commissioners urged administrators, parents, and students to remain calm as the government monitors the situation.
The directive comes after gunmen launched an early-morning attack on the Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School (GGCSS) in Maga, where 25 schoolgirls were abducted and a staff member killed. The attack, which occurred around 4 a.m., saw the assailants storm the school with sophisticated weapons, scaling the fence and dragging the students from their hostel to an unknown destination. A deputy head was shot dead while a security guard was injured, according to a report prepared for the United Nations.
Police confirmed the incident and stated that military units, tactical police teams, and local vigilantes have been deployed to comb nearby forests and pursue the armed group. The abduction is the second mass kidnapping from a Kebbi school within four years. In June 2021, more than 100 students and staff were abducted from a government college. They were freed in batches over two years after ransom payments, with some victims forcibly married off and returning with babies.
The attack in Maga adds to a wave of escalating violence across Nigeria’s northern states. Since 2014, when 276 girls were kidnapped from Chibok in Borno State, mass abductions have grown increasingly frequent. UNICEF estimates that over 2,400 “grave violations” affecting more than 6,800 children have occurred in the northeast alone since 2014. A report by Save the Children found that more than 1,680 students were abducted from schools nationwide between 2014 and 2022.
Banditry, which has spiraled into a multibillion-naira kidnapping industry, continues to ravage the northwest, where armed gangs raid communities, seize hostages, and terrorize residents. Authorities have attempted negotiations, peace deals, and the deployment of vigilante groups, but with little success. Critics warn that the crisis is now out of control, with hostages increasingly treated as commodities by both bandits and jihadist groups.
