Linus Oota, Lafia
About 20.000 primary school children in the southern senatorial district of Nasarawa State were reportedly forced out of school in the wake of the attacks by suspected herdsmen on border communities of the state and Benue State.
Investigations by Daily Sun revealed that, at least, 20,000 primay school pupils were forced out of school in Awe, Keana, Obi and Doma Local Government areas of the state, following the displacement of Tiv farmers on border communities of the two states by the suspected militia herdsmen.
Investigations further disclosed that the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps located in some towns of the southern senatorial zone were not provided with make-shift schools by the state government, to let the displaced children continue with their education.
Speaking to Daily Sun on condition of anonymity, a primary school teacher in one of the schools in Kadarko town of Keana Local Government said all primary and secondary schools in the town; either privately or publicly owned, had been shut down since the advent of the attacks on Tiv communities by the marauding herdsmen, as from January, 2018.
The investigation further revealed that the Tiv ethnic group, who are predominantly farmers, are reported to be one of the most populated ethnic nationalities in the Doma, Obi, Keana and Awe and Lafia Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state which were engulfed in the crisis.
When contacted, the Nasarawa State chairman of Universal Basic Education Board, Mohammed Dan’azumi, said the board is still taking statistics in order to ascertain the exact number of school children forced out of school at the wake of the attacks.
Dan’azumi, who directed the permanent member I, Hadiza Alakayi, to speak on his behalf, said: “The board has sent its instructors and headmasters to collect statistics in the five LGAs, and they are yet to submit their report.
“The situation is under control. We summoned education secretaries, supervisors and headmasters to ensure that all schools resume.”