Yobe school shut for 12 years due to insurgency reopens

The Yobe state government has reopened the Government Senior Day Secondary School, Bara, in Gulani LGA.

This is coming 12 years after the school was closed due to the activities of insurgents.

The school, alongside the government secondary schools in Goniri and Babbangida, has operated from a temporary site at the Government Secondary School in Damaturu since 2012.

Sulaiman Tamali, the newly appointed principal of the school in Bara, spoke on Friday when he visited the Gulani local government council chairman Dayyabu Njibulwa.

He said the purpose of the visit was to seek a partnership with the council to move the school forward.

“Together, we will raise the standard of teaching and learning at the school,” Tamali said.

Njibulwa noted that the reopening of the school signalled a significant improvement in the security of the area and the state at large.

He promised to provide support to the principal to enable him to achieve his mandate.

The chairman commended the state government and security agencies for their various roles in the peace currently enjoyed in the area.

The northeast (comprising Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe) has been the zone most affected by conflict in Nigeria over the last decade.

Conflict in the northeast is primarily attributable to Boko Haram, the terrorist group responsible for human rights abuses across Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger.

The NBS reports that the Boko Haram insurgency has resulted in military operations that affected nearly 15 million people since 2009.

This conflict has triggered an acute humanitarian and forced displacement crisis, with devastating social and economic impacts on the population.

Yobe is among the most affected states with women, children, and youth devastated while schools have been forced to shut down.

The tactics of the insurgents have included suicide bombings, seizure and destruction of entire villages, forced displacement, abductions, sexual violence targeting women, and forced recruitment of men.