Abuja, November 24, 2025 – In a stark escalation of Nigeria’s protracted security crisis, the Niger State government has mandated the indefinite closure of all public and private primary and secondary schools across the state until further notice, extending beyond initial temporary measures in high-risk zones, amid a surge in terrorist threats and abductions. This decision follows the abduction of 303 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Agwarra Local Government Area, on November 21, 2025, marking one of the largest mass kidnappings since the 2014 Chibok incident. The state government, in a statement signed by Secretary Alhaji Abubakar Usman, attributed the attack to the school’s non-compliance with prior directives to suspend operations in the Niger North Senatorial District due to intelligence on heightened bandit activities.
While tertiary institutions remain open except in vulnerable areas of Niger North and East, the blanket shutdown affects thousands of learners and underscores the fragility of educational infrastructure, with over 42,000 schools in northern Nigeria lacking perimeter fencing, per the National Safe Schools Financing Plan (2023-2026).
Parallel measures have been enacted in Yobe State, where Governor Mai Mala Buni ordered the immediate closure of all boarding secondary schools as a “proactive measure” to safeguard students following a security review with state chiefs. The directive, announced on November 22, 2025, by Permanent Secretary Bukar Bukar of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, responds to recent school-targeted attacks nationwide, including the Kebbi State incident on November 17 where 25 girls were abducted from a boarding school in Maga, resulting in the vice-principal’s death. Governor Buni urged residents to maintain vigilance and intensify prayers for peace, emphasizing that the closures aim to prevent further vulnerabilities in a region plagued by kidnapping waves.
The federal government has also shuttered 47 unity colleges nationwide pending security reviews, joining closures in Katsina, Plateau, Taraba, Kebbi, Adamawa, and Kwara states.
President Bola Tinubu canceled his G20 attendance in South Africa to oversee responses, deploying additional tactical teams and coordinating with agencies like the DSS and Nigerian Army.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has fiercely condemned these measures as “surrendering to terrorists,” arguing that shutdowns fulfill insurgents’ goals of disrupting education without addressing root causes. In a November 23 press briefing, PDP National Publicity Secretary Comrade Ini Ememobong decried the federal response as “slow, disjointed, and dangerously passive,” citing the lack of a comprehensive intelligence-driven plan and President Tinubu’s absence from affected sites like Kebbi and Niger.
The party demanded full implementation of the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools, anchored in community intelligence and rapid response, warning that closures will exacerbate Nigeria’s 18.3 million out-of-school children crisis—10.2 million at primary level and 8.1 million at secondary, predominantly in the North.
Escalating Insecurity Forces School Shutdowns Across Northern Nigeria; PDP Slams Federal Response as Surrender to Terrorists
