Benue sets up committee to address school attacks

The Benue government has set up a committee to address insecurity in schools within the state.

The committee’s duty is to examine the issue of security in schools, especially those with boarding facilities and schools located in border areas.

The committee has Paul Hemba, special adviser on security to the governor, as its chairman, and Dennis Ityavyar, commissioner for education, as the alternate chairman.

Ityavyar said the state’s security council had noted incidents of student abductions in parts of the country, hence, the establishment of the committee.

He said the ministry of education had already compiled comprehensive data of all those attending primary and secondary schools in the state.

He said the ministry had also directed the Benue State University (BSU) and other tertiary institutions to immediately update their data and forward same to it.

“We don’t have up-to-date information on tertiary institutions, but we know that it is important for us to do so. We have asked BSU and other tertiary institutions to give us their latest data,” he said.

“We do not expect anything to happen in any of our schools because we have been proactive.”

Ityavyar said the committee will not leave any stone unturned to ensure that all schools are safe.

“We are doing something to ensure that we are not taken unawares, but our steps will not be discussed in the media,” he added.

Attacks on institutions of learning, especially in the north, have been on the increase in recent times, with gunmen invading schools and kidnapping students and staff.

In April, three students of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi (FUAM) were abducted when gunmen invaded the school.

The students regained freedom after three days in captivity.

The Benue varsity incident made it the sixth attack on schools across the country in 2021.