Insecurity: Students in Kaduna decline school resumption
Kaduna has at least 15 military establishments... Yet, terrorists’ activities have wrapped the state in fear and anxiety.
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The state announced school resumption: The Kaduna State Government had announced September 4, 2022, as the date for the reopening of all schools across the state for the new session, however, two weeks after school resumption, some students are yet to return to class following the activities of criminals elements in the state.
Government assures safety of wards: Although the government had assured students of safety, some parents are afraid of allowing their children go back to school as there are no concrete arrangements for security in some schools.
What students said: Suleiman Ibrahim, a student of Government Secondary School, Kakuri-Kaduna said he could not risk his life going to school, as he does not know when bandits would attack.
Speaking to reporters, another student, Josephine Moses of Government Technical College, Malali, Kaduna said she would not attend school until the state government puts security measures in place in his school.
“Only a few of us are available. Most classes are empty because no other students agreed to come because they are all afraid of kidnappers” she said
Moses Danjuma, an SSS 3 student of Excel Schools, Kakuri-Kaduna said the location of the school equally attracts kidnappers and appealed to the management of the school to relocate to a more secure site.
However, some of the students have vowed to remain at home until security measures are put in place by the state government.
Insecurity in Kaduna
The growing infamy of Kaduna as the most terrorised state in Nigeria in recent times despite the heavy presence of the military and police in the state is raising concerns in the security community. Experts say the security situation does not reflect the fact that Kaduna has some of the most critical military and police establishments in the country.
While most states have one military base, a police command and a few other security outfits each, Kaduna has at least 15 military establishments.
These include the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Nigerian Army School of Artillery (NASA), Nigerian Air Force Institute of Technology, the Nigerian Army School of Military Police, a depot of the Nigerian Army and a training centre for soldiers. The existence of these establishments has earned the historical capital of Northern Nigeria the nickname – The Garrison City.
Yet, terrorists’ activities have wrapped the state in fear and anxiety.
In 2021, bandits killed 1,192 people in the state and kidnapped 3,348 others, according to a report by a Lagos-based geopolitical advisory outfit, SBM Intelligence. Deaths from insecurity in the state in 2020 were three times higher than those recorded in the Northeast states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa battling terrorism.
Terrorists almost daily attack public and private institutions, schools and communities with impunity. In August 2021, they attacked the country’s foremost military training institution, the NDA in Kaduna city, five months after an attack on Kaduna Airport’s FAAN Quarters.
Insecurity in Kaduna reached a milestone on March 28 when bandits ambushed a train heading for the city from Nigeria’s capital Abuja after bombing the rail track.
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