The Government of Borno State on Monday denied that it ordered the closure of all its boarding secondary schools for fear of Boko Haram attacks as reported in the media.
A statement which was issued last Wednesday in Maiduguri, the state capital, quoted Dr Muhammad Bulama, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Information and Culture, as giving the directive in the wake of the recent abduction of 110 girls at Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi in neighbouring Yobe State.
However, the Commissioner of Education, Mallam Musa Inuwa Kubo, in an interview with journalists, in Maiduguri, on Monday, said the report claiming closure of public schools by Borno government was untrue.
He said that since the abduction of Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014, all schools were closed.
The commissioner further stressed that the state government, through his Ministry, reopened all the boarding schools, except in areas like Marte, Gajigana, Miringa, Bama and other places considered unsafe.
According to him, students in those areas were relocated and merged with Government Secondary Schools, Yerwa, in Maiduguri and Biu Local Government Area.
His words: “I am happy to inform you that all our boarding schools are in session and our students receiving their teachings in conducive atmosphere.
“During the peak of the insurgency, the state government was left with no option than to close down all our primary and secondary schools across the state. But we reopened them in September 2016. And since then we have not witnessed any problem of insurgency in our schools.
“I want to urge the public to dismiss report that Borno State Government has closed its boarding schools. It will interest you to know that even in Chibok, we have our students who are to write their final year WAEC/NECO very soon.
“Although WAEC/NECO officials insisted that they will not go to Chibok, I will lead my officials to relocate students to Maiduguri to sit for the exams.”
source:toptipz.com.ng
