Many parents have besieged the Government Special Science Senior Secondary School, North Bank, Uni Agric Road, Makurdi, to take their children home for safety over the escalating insecurity in Benue State.
Recall that over 200 people were massacred by Fulani herdsmen in Yelellewata – a community which is twenty minutes drive from the school.
Parents of the students besieged the school gate to demand the release of their children so they can take them home due to lack of security in the school.
It was gathered that the management of the school had earlier written to the Ministry of Education demanding security at the school, long before the resumption for the current academic term, but nothing has been done.
A parent who spoke on condition of anonymity said the school had sent a reminder to the Ministry after the kidnapping of students at the nearby Joseph Tarka University Makurdi, JOSTUM.
“Just last week, suspected herdsmen attacked the host community of the school with several lives lost and the whole community is now deserted,” the parent said.
He added that during the last visiting day, parents could see cows grazing within the school premises as part of the perimeter fence behind the school had collapsed.
This has raised serious concern about safety of the students.
He said the school management should do the right thing by shutting down the school pending when the security situation around the area improves.
“Let’s avoid the repeat of what happened at JOSTUM or the Chibok and Dapchi girls’ scenario here in Benue State,” the distraught parent insisted.