The Yobe State Government has ordered the immediate suspension of boarding secondary school activities across the state, citing heightened security concerns and the growing wave of student abductions in northern Nigeria.
The directive was contained in a statement on Saturday from Mamman Mohammed, spokesperson to Governor Mai Mala Buni, following a high-level security meeting held with heads of security agencies.
According to the statement, the government reached the decision after reviewing recent attacks on educational institutions in several northern states, concluding that a temporary closure was necessary to prevent similar incidents in Yobe.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Bukar Bukar, subsequently issued an instruction for all boarding secondary schools to shut down until the security situation improves.
Governor Buni appealed to residents to continue praying for peace and for the success of security forces deployed across the country.
Yobe becomes the latest state to halt academic activities as the region reels from a surge in kidnappings targeting schools and religious centres.
In recent days, Kebbi, Plateau and Kwara States have also closed some or all of their schools after a series of coordinated attacks.
The Federal Government has similarly shut down 14 unity schools in high-risk areas pending a comprehensive security review.
The closures follow a string of large-scale abductions: 24 students seized in Kebbi, and more than 300 taken from a school in Niger State earlier in the week.
In Kwara State, gunmen attacked a church, killing two worshippers and abducting several others.
President Bola Tinubu has directed security agencies to intensify operations nationwide and has promised that kidnapped students and other victims will be rescued safely.
The President’s order comes as pressure mounts on the government to restore confidence in the education sector, which continues to suffer setbacks as families withdraw their children from school over safety fears.
