By ABUBAKAR AHMED

Zamfara Government on Tuesday announced the immediate closure of 10 secondary schools believed to be vulnerable to bandits’ attacks.

The state Commissioner for Education, Mr Ibrahim Abdullahi, made the disclosure when he addressed journalists at his office on measures being taken by the state government to secure lives of school children in the state.

“We have received the approval of Gov. Bello Matawalle to close all the schools located along our borders with our neighbouring states of Katsina and Kaduna, following the recent abduction of over 300 secondary school students at the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina state.

“As you know, Kankara shares borders with Zamfara state and that attack is also a threat to our students which was why we suggested to the governor of the pressing need to close down these schools for the safety of our students,” he explained.

According to the commissioner, all the seven boarding schools and one day school along the state’s borders with Katsina as well as two day schools along the borders of Kaduna state are affected by the closure.

He urged parents to continue to pray for peace in the state noting that “we are confident that with continuous prayers, Allah will see us to the end of this problem.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the affected schools are Girls Secondary School (GSS), Zurmi, GSS Birnin-Magaji, GSS, Shinkafi, GSS Tsafe and GSSS Bukkuyum.

Others are GGCSS Moriki and GDSS Gurbin-Bore, all sharing borders with Katsina state while the remaining two, GDSS Nasarawan Mailayi and GDSS Gusami are along the Zamfara/Kaduna state borders.

Meanwhile, the state governor had urged leaders to desist from apportioning blames over the continued bandits’ activities on the dialogue strategy of his administration.

Matawalle, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Zailani Bappa, said: “the carrot and stick approach introduced by Matawalle to end banditry remains the most viable option.

“If all the affected states will adopt the measure, there will be very high chances that peace will return in all parts of our country,” he said. (NAN)

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