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 the number 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 our correspondent on condition of anonymity, a primary school teacher in one of the school in Kadarko town of Keana Local Government Area, said that 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.

Related News

The investigation further revealed that the Tiv ethnic group, who were predominantly farmers, were reported to be one of the most populated ethnic nationalities in the Doma, Obi, Keana and Awe and Lafia LGAs in the state that were engulfed in the crisis.

When contacted, the Nasarawa State chairman of Universal Basic Education Board, Mohammed Dan’azumi, said that the board was 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 should resume.

The board is going to monitor and supervise the situation base on the report received. The IDPs children shall be taken care of,” he said.