By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Boko Haram, the Islamist jihadist sect, says Western education is evil.
The terrorists hate literacy and do not want Northerners – and possibly Southerners – to attend school, so that all Nigerians will be held down and become incapacitated Almajiris, the poster scourge of the North.
These illiterate Fulani supremacists have been campaigning since 2009 to take the North back to the dark ages, and have now achieved their aim in Zamfara, the hotbed of Sharia, by forcing the state to close all primary and secondary schools.
UNICEF estimates that 1.3 million Nigerian children have been affected by frequent raids on schools by gunmen.
Muhammadu Buhari encourages the terrorists by his refusal to prosecute and jail them to deter both them and others who want to be like them.
And Adamawa on Monday de-boarded 30 of its 34 junior boarding secondary schools “until further notice”, in a statement issued by Education and Human Capital Development Commissioner, Wilbina Jackson.
“From now henceforth, all the 30 government junior secondary schools are now day schools.
“The remaining four that are not affected are Government Girls Junior Secondary School Yola, General Murtala Mohammed College Yola, Special School Jada and Special School Mubi,” Jackson said.
“This becomes necessary due to the present incessant security challenges faced by the country and owing to students’ tender age, hence the need for them to study under the care of their parents.
“All students from the affected schools are to be placed in the nearest public junior secondary schools within their catchment or domicile areas. Stakeholders, PTA, ANCOPS and others are to ensure compliance with this government policy.”
$18.34m paid in ransoms in nine years
Between June 2011 and the end of March 2020, an estimated $18.34 million was paid in ransoms to kidnappers, SBM Intelligence based in Lagos said in a report last year titled “The economics of the kidnap industry in Nigeria,” quoted by CNN.
Amnesty International has described this latest incident in Zamfara as “disturbing,” saying in a tweet that “attacks on schools and abductions of children are war crimes.”
“The children abducted are in serious risk of being harmed. Nigerian authorities must take all measures to return them to safety,” Amnesty added, per CNN.
Go after the terrorists, NEF tells Northern govs
The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has asked Northern governors to go beyond the imposition of economic and social lockdown on communities besieged by terrorists, and launch effective military assault on the criminals.
“We are closely following the condition of many Northern communities that have become particularly vulnerable to attacks and abuse by bandits, kidnappers and related organised criminals,” NEF Publicity and Advocacy Director, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said in a statement.
“Measures being taken by some state governments, such as suspension of weekly markets, restriction on sale of petrol, closure of schools and some roads, curfews, movement of cattle and plans to restrict communication will compound the desperate conditions of living of many communities in the North.”
Festering terrorism encouraged by Buhari wrought more devastation in at least three other Northern areas at the weekend – Abuja, Niger, and Buhari’s backyard in Katsina, as reported by Vanguard.
Abuja – woman, her two daughters kidnapped
Police in Abuja confirmed that Bukola Oladapo, 45, and her two daughters, Moyo (17), and Glory (14), were abducted by gunmen who broke into their home in Pegi, Kuje at about 1.20am on Sunday.
Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Daniel Ndiparya, said: “Efforts are being made by the command to ensure the victims are rescued safely.”
Katsina – terrorists kill ward head
Islamist jihadists killed Malam Yahuza, the ward head of Masaku in Katsina State, and abducted the wife and two children of Ibrahim Kurami, a lawmaker representing Bakori constituency in the state House of Assembly.
The terrorists also kidnapped the brother of the Secretary to the Katsina State Government, Kabir Muhammed; confirmed by his Press Director, Abdullah Yar’adua, who named the abductee as Mustapha Inuwa.
Yar’adua said the 78-year-old man “was abducted alone while on his farm … in Diftau” and “the matter has since been reported to the security agencies.”
Niger – district head kidnapped
Mahmud Aliyu, the district head of Wawa Niger State, was kidnapped by gunmen.
Zamfara – schools closed as gunmen kidnap 73 students
On August 29, gunmen kidnapped 73 students of Government Day Secondary School, Kaya in Zamfara State, which led to the closure of the school and all other primary and secondary schools across the state.
CNN quoted a police statement which said the high school was targeted by “armed bandits” and that “the abduction followed the invasion of the school by a large number of armed bandits.
“A search and rescue team has been deployed to work with the military to locate and rescue the abducted children …. Security has also been beefed up at Kaya Village and environ to forestall further attacks on the communities.”
Zamfara Information Commissioner Ibrahim Dosara confirmed to CNN on August 20 that schools in the state have been closed down to avoid further attacks.
“We have closed primary and secondary schools in the state,” Dosara said.
“But schools currently writing examinations are asked to stay behind until they finish their examinations …. Heavy security presence will be provided to protect those writing exams.”
CNN recalls that the latest kidnapping came days after 91 schoolchildren earlier abducted in Niger State were released by their captors after thousands of dollars were paid by their families as ransom.
Peter Hawkins, UNICEF’s representative in Nigeria, told CNN the Zamfara kidnapping “highlights the fragility of education and security” in the state.
“The bandits have reached a stage now where all schools in Zamfara State have been closed down through their actions.
“The impact this will have on children who want to learn will be profound – not only on those 73 children whose lives are at stake for purposes of extortion, but for all children in Zamfara who are prevented from being able to go to school and learn,” Hawkins said.
He added that an estimated 1.3 million Nigerian children have been affected by frequent raids on schools by gunmen.
CNN notes that kidnapping for ransom has become one of the major security challenges in Nigeria, with Zamfara and other neighbouring states in the North West being hit with several mass kidnappings this year.
Prominent among the string of kidnappings in Zamfara was the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in the town of Jangebe in February. The students have since been freed, with authorities insisting no ransom was paid to secure their release.
Lockdowns not enough, says NEF
Baba-Ahmed insisted that measures being taken by Northern governors to tackle terrorism “represent virtual economic and social lockdowns on people who had been at the mercy of criminals for a long time.
“Unless they are accompanied by an aggressive and effective assault on the banditry and kidnapping, they will merely add to the misery and hopelessness of our communities.
“Worse, they could further embolden the bandits and the kidnappers when it becomes clear that governments and security agencies cannot go beyond lockdowns on communities.
“Communities themselves will lose even more faith in the capacity of the Nigerian state to respond to their desperate circumstances.
“The perception that communities are on their own must never be allowed to take deeper roots, but it will, when people see only the bandit and the kidnapper winning.
“State governments imposing additional hardships on communities must know that the measures they are introducing must produce tangible results within a period that makes them meaningful and tolerable.”
The NEF urged the federal government to assist states to relieve communities living under additional pressures.