Over 3,000 Children Dismissed From School Over Insecurity In Katsina

Over 3,000 pupils were on Monday dismissed from school over banditry in communities of Jibia Local Government Area (LGA) of Katsina State.

The Chairman of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp, Malam Sa’ad Salihu, made this known to journalists who visited the communities on Monday.

The IDP Chairman, who is also the Chairman of Shimfida Youth Development Association, explained that the students were in school when the bandits attacked, leaving members of the communities scampering.

Salihu stated that, of the over 15,000 IDPs currently in the camp, many of them, who were at the time of the attack, came from Kwari, Zango, Shimfida, Tsauni, Far Faru, Tsambe and Gurbin Magariya communities.

The chairman expressed her discontent with the state of the education sector due to the large number of children sacked from school by bandit activities. 

“At least, 23 women and children have died at the camp within four months, either as a result of hypertension or depression, while 35 women gave birth.

“Over 3,000 children who are currently in the camp could not have access to education at the moment.”

“From the Shimfida community alone, we have 8,000 people that are in this camp; Far Faru Community, over 7,000 and about 200 were from the Zango community.

“Some of the IDPs are there in some parts of Niger Republic; all in all, about 20,000 people were sacked out of their communities by the bandits.

“But not all of us are sleeping here because of the lack of mattresses, water, mats and mosquito nets. Some of the women go to their relatives’ houses to sleep.” Salihu said.

He added that the IDP have lost access to their farms which had been seized by the bandits, calling on the government to restore security to these communities so they can go back to their lives.

In responding to questions, the Chairman, Jibia LGA, Alhaji Bishir Sabi’u, affirmed that the students were indeed dismissed from school in some communities in the LGA

He disclosed that sufficient relief materials had been released t the IDPs by the government, maintaining that the government alone cannot resolve the issue.

Sabi'u noted that apart from the foodstuff provided by the government, the council spends N200,000 on feeding the IDPs weekly.