Saturday, November 22, 2025 - The Katsina State Government has ordered the immediate closure of all public schools amid rising insecurity across the region, prompting thousands of boarding students to return home on Friday, November 21.
The directive, issued by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary
Education, urged parents, caregivers, teachers and the wider public to comply
while authorities monitor the situation to ensure the safety of students and
staff.
Although an official written statement had not yet been
released, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Yusuf Jibia,
confirmed to DW Hausa that the shutdown was a precaution following recent
attacks in neighbouring states.
He noted that most schools had already completed first-term
academic activities.
“Only examinations remain for our students,” Jibia said,
stressing that the state had to act swiftly to prevent possible attacks.
Katsina, which borders Kebbi State, has a troubling history
of school abductions. Earlier this week in Kebbi, gunmen kidnapped 26 students
from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga.
Katsina has itself witnessed several mass abductions, most
notably the December 2020 Kankara kidnapping, when more than 300 boys were
taken from Government Science Secondary School. They were released after
several days, prompting a statewide shutdown of boarding schools.
Other incidents include the August 2021 abduction of ten
students and a teacher in Faskari, and the January 2024 kidnapping of two
female students from Al-Qalam University.
The latest closure comes as northern Nigeria faces a renewed
wave of attacks.
In Niger State on Friday, November 21, armed men stormed St.
Mary’s Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, kidnapping an unspecified number
of students. Witnesses reported that over 60 motorcycles were used and that the
attackers shot the school’s gatekeeper, leaving him seriously injured. The
Niger kidnapping follows other violent incidents this week.
In Kwara State, bandits abducted at least 30 worshippers
from a Christ Apostolic Church parish in Eruku, killing three people. The
abductors have reportedly demanded ₦100 million per victim.
In Kebbi State, 26 schoolgirls were seized in Monday’s
attack in Maga.
Meanwhile, police in Nasarawa State dismissed claims
circulating online that two pupils were abducted from St. Peter’s Academy in
Rukubi, calling the report “false and not reflective of the true state of
affairs.”
The escalating security crisis has drawn urgent federal
attention. President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of State for
Defence, Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi to lead rescue efforts, and he
has postponed planned trips to Johannesburg and Angola.
With multiple states experiencing simultaneous attacks, fear
has deepened across northern Nigeria, and calls for coordinated, decisive
action are becoming more urgent.
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