Jangebe attack: We can’t afford to have more out-of-school children, say northern govs

The Northern Governors Forum has condemned the abduction of over 300 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, in Zamfara state.

According to Simon Lalong, chairman of the forum, the north is educationally disadvantaged and cannot afford to have more children out of school.

Earlier on Friday, armed bandits attacked the school in Talata-Mafara local government area and kidnapped 317 students, leading to the closure of boarding schools in the state.

The incident is the latest in a series of attacks against schools in the north, during which more than 1,000 students have been taken hostage.

In the statement issued by Makut Nacham, his spokesman, Lalong said the trend is unacceptable and called for stringent measures to stop the situation from further escalation.

“As northern governors, we are deeply saddened by this embarrassing and unfortunate attack on our children who are in schools to seek knowledge and build capacity to impact the nation and create a better society,” he said.

“The assault on schools where innocent and harmless students are targeted should not be condoned in any way because it has the tendency to set the nation back to ignorance and more poverty.

“The northern part of the country, in particular, is more educationally disadvantaged and cannot afford to have these disruptions. Enough is enough.”

The schoolgirls were abducted about a week after bandits kidnapped 27 students during a similar attack in Niger state.

The attack also comes barely 24 hours after the northern governors met in Kaduna state to strategise on how best to address the region’s security challenges.