The Kwara State Government has ordered the closure of 45 public schools following an upsurge in bandit attacks and insecurity across several communities in the state.
The Executive Chairman of the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB), Prof. Sheu Ibrahim Adaramaja, disclosed this during an inter-ministerial press briefing in Ilorin yesterday.
According to Adaramaja, the affected schools are located in Babanla, Baba Sango, Sangbe, Oke-Ode, and other communities that have been repeatedly targeted by gunmen in recent weeks.
He explained that the shutdown was a precautionary measure aimed at protecting students and teachers from further harm.
“The safety of our children and teachers is our utmost concern. We cannot allow learning to continue in environments that have become unsafe,” Adaramaja said.
The SUBEB chairman added that teachers from the closed schools had been redeployed to safer locations to ensure the continuity of academic activities and justify their monthly pay.
He also announced that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had approved the 2025 promotion exercise for teachers in the state as part of efforts to motivate the workforce and improve the standard of education.
In a related development, the state government has abolished the collection of Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) levies in all public schools, a move Adaramaja described as a step toward making basic education more accessible to every child.
Meanwhile, the insecurity that triggered the school closures has continued to cause panic, particularly in Patigi Local Government Area, where residents have been staging protests over persistent attacks.
Last week, hundreds of Patigi residents, including community elders and youth leaders, marched through the town to demand urgent government intervention.
The demonstrators carried placards and chanted slogans, accusing authorities of abandoning their communities to bandits.
A youth leader, Musa Abubakar, who joined the protest, lamented that residents now live in constant fear.
“Our people can no longer go to the farm or even sleep peacefully. We are being killed and kidnapped daily, and those who survive are forced to pay huge ransoms,” he said.
Abubakar also noted that the General Hospital in Patigi had been deserted by doctors who fled due to the worsening security situation.
“There are no doctors left in the hospital. Patients are dying because no one is there to treat them,” he added.
The protesters alleged that armed herders have been infiltrating their communities, particularly around Kara Market, where strange faces have been sighted in recent weeks.
They urged the government to relocate the market and deploy more security personnel to forest areas believed to be hideouts for kidnappers.
Community elders, who joined the protest, appealed to Governor AbdulRazaq to act swiftly to prevent total economic collapse in Kwara North.
“If this situation continues, farming and trading will completely shut down. We need urgent help,” one of them said.
They also accused Senator Sadiq Umar, representing Kwara North, of downplaying the crisis before the National Assembly.
“Anyone who says Kwara North is safe is not telling the truth. We are dying every day,” one protester declared.
The ongoing wave of attacks and displacement has sparked renewed calls for tighter security in rural communities across Kwara State, as residents continue to demand immediate government action to restore peace and stability.