The Nigerian Government has ordered the closure of some secondary schools in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states because of security threats being faced in these states. This is even as Nigerian troops successfully aborted Boko Haram’s attempt to attack Ajiri and Mafa, as well as other communities in the outskirt of Maiduguri and Dikwa in Borno State towards the Cameroon borders.

A statement issued in Abuja by the Special Assistant on Media to the Supervising Minister of Education, Simeon Nwakaudu, named the schools closed as Federal Government Girls College, Munguno, College of Science and Technology, Lassa both in Borno State. Federal Government Girls College, Potiskum, Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, both in Yobe state, and the College of Science and Technology in Michika in Adamawa State.

He said the Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike, has directed that the students, who are not writing public examinations, be relocated to FGGC Bauchi, FGGC Bajoga, FGC Maiduguri, FSTC Kafanchan and FSTC Dayi.

It said he also directed that candidates who registered for WASSCE, NECO SSCE and BECE in FGGC Potiskum should have their examination centres relocated to FGGC Bauchi, while those from FGGC Munguno and FGC Buni Yadi should also be relocated.

While leaving the choice of the schools to accommodate affected students at the discretion of parents, Wike limited these choices to the six schools listed.

The Minister’s decision is following a bloody attack by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect on students of the Federal Government College Buni-Yadi in Yobe State, North-East Nigeria in their dormitory, during which over 50 of the students were reportedly killed, with the school burnt down.

The February 24 attack on the Federal Government College Buni Yadi is the fourth recorded on schools in Yobe State since the commencement of the insurgency, as GSS Damaturu, GSS Mamudo and College of Agriculture, Gujba were attacked in 2013.

Meanwhile, it was a success story yesterday for Nigerian troops as they foiled attempts by Boko Haram terrorists to attack Ajiri and Mafa, as well as other communities in the outskirt of Maiduguri and Dikwa in Borno State towards the Cameroon borders.

A statement by the Director of Defence Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade, said 20 insurgents died in the encounter, while military troops sustained varying degree of injuries while more camps were destroyed in encounters at various forests and mountain locations around Adamawa and Borno states.

The Defence Headquarters also noted with concern, what it termed “inflammatory pronouncements by some highly placed persons in government and some apparently sponsored commentators in and outside the country who have consistently given false and misleading remarks to describe the disposition of troops in the ongoing operations.”

It noted that it had become clear that “the sustained campaign was intended to demoralize the troops and give the impression that the military was overwhelmed by the terrorist group.”

The statement concluded: “For the avoidance of any doubt, it is hereby restated that the Nigerian military cannot by any standard be overwhelmed by the insurgents, neither will the devious antics of their sympathisers and sponsors demoralise the fighting spirit of troops. Nigerians and indeed all well-wishers are enjoined to discountenance the propaganda messages of the terrorists and their backers, alleging the inability of Nigerian troops to handle the insurgency.”

•Photo shows remnants of a school block recently destroyed by Boko Haram.

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