As Nigeria’s political elite intensify behind-the-scenes negotiations ahead of the 2027 elections — trading alliances, calculating primary victories and positioning for power — another school has been emptied by terror.
The Borno State Government has ordered the temporary closure and relocation of Government Day Secondary School, Mussa, in Askira/Uba Local Government Area following the abduction of 42 students and children during a suspected Boko Haram attack earlier this month.
The decision, announced by the state Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Lawan Wakilbe, comes amid growing outrage over renewed attacks on schools and communities across northern Nigeria, even as political attention increasingly shifts toward early campaign maneuvering for the next election cycle.
In a statement released Tuesday by Governor Babagana Zulum’s spokesperson, Dauda Illiya, the commissioner disclosed that the school would be relocated to Government Secondary School, Uba, under the state’s Safe Schools Initiative.
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Before arriving in Mussa, the government delegation visited the Emir of Uba, Alhaji Ali Ibn Ismaila Mamza II, before proceeding to the affected community, where they met military officials, community leaders and grieving parents.
According to the statement, the delegation was received by the Commanding Officer of the 115 Battalion, Askira, Lt. Col. Ishola Olufisola, alongside local stakeholders.
Addressing distraught parents, Wakilbe conveyed the state government’s sympathy and assured residents that efforts were ongoing to secure the safe return of the abducted children.
But for many Nigerians, the attack is another grim reminder that years after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping shocked the world, schools in parts of northern Nigeria remain dangerously exposed.
The latest abduction also comes against the backdrop of rising insecurity nationwide, including recent kidnappings involving teachers and schoolchildren in Oyo State and fresh waves of mass abductions blamed on armed groups and terrorists operating across the country.
On May 16, suspected Boko Haram insurgents reportedly stormed Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira/Uba, abducting dozens of children in a raid that reignited fears over the vulnerability of schools in conflict-prone regions.
Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, said the victims included four secondary school students — two boys and two girls — 28 primary school pupils and 10 other children kidnapped from nearby homes, bringing the total number abducted to 42.
The closure of the school underscores the deepening crisis facing Nigeria’s education system in conflict zones, where classrooms are increasingly becoming frontlines in a prolonged insurgency.
Critics say the renewed attacks expose a troubling disconnect between the country’s worsening security emergency and the political establishment’s growing obsession with 2027 succession politics.
As party leaders strategize over coalitions and presidential calculations, families across parts of Nigeria continue to wait for abducted children to return home.
