Boko Haram: Borno closes its schools

                          

Borno has closed its schools over fears of Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which Amnesty International said killed at least 170 students and teachers last year.

Schools closed on March 17, teachers and students said, after a series of attacks in rural areas, including a school massacre in neighboring Yobe state last month that drew international condemnation. Boko Haram burned down more than 50 schools in the region in the past year, according to the Education Ministry.

Staff and pupils “were requested to embark on holiday following a directive from the State Ministry of Education,” Hadiza Mohammed, a teacher at Moduganari primary school in Maiduguri, the state capital, said by phone yesterday. “The government does not wish to risk losing any students in the rural areas.”

Boko Haram, which means “Western education is a sin” in the Hausa language, is fighting to impose Islamic law in Africa’s biggest oil producer. Attacks have continued after President Goodluck Jonathan imposed emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states last May.

“The closure of schools will have an adverse effect on the education of my children, but what I believe is paramount is the security of their lives,” Modu Nganzai, a 45-year-old father of three, said by phone from Maiduguri.

The Borno state commissioner of education, Inuwa Kubo, and commissioner of information, Inuwa Bwala, didn’t answer calls seeking comment.