The FG directed the shutdown of 41 unity schools across the North, while Kwara, Plateau, Niger, Benue and Katsina also suspended academic activities in selected schools due to security concerns.

The directive came after bandits abducted 215 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s School, Papiri, in Agwara LGA of Niger State, just four days after 26 schoolgirls were kidnapped from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi, where the vice principal was killed and the principal injured. Two of the abducted girls later escaped.

President Bola Tinubu had earlier ordered the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi to coordinate rescue operations.

A circular from the Federal Ministry of Education listed the 41 affected unity schools across several northern states.

Additionally, Niger State’s government announced the temporary closure of all boarding schools in the Niger North Senatorial District as a preventive measure.

Read Also: Presidency Reaffirms Tinubu’s Commitment to Tackling Insecurity

The affected schools include FGGC Minjibir; FGA Suleja; FTC Ganduje; FGGC Zaria; FTC Kafanchan; FGGC Bakori; FTC Dayi; FGC Daura; FGGC Tambuwal; FSC Sokoto; FTC Wurno; FGC Gusau; FGC Anka; FGGC Gwandu; FGC Birnin Yauri; FTC Zuru; FGGC Kazaure; FGC Kiyawa; FTC Hadejia; FGGC Bida; FGC New‑Bussa; FTC Kuta‑Shiroro.

Others are FGC Ilorin; FGGC Omu‑Aran; FTC Gwanara; FGC Ugwolawo; FGGC Kabba; FTC Ogugu; FGGC Bwari; FGC Rubochi; FGGC Abaji; FGGC Potiskum; FGC Buni Yadi; FTC Gashau; FTC Michika; FGC Ganye; FGC Azare; FTC Misau; FGGC Bajoga; FGC Biliri; and FTC Zambuk.

Source: Punch

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Speaking during a menstrual hygiene sensitisation programme for students in Sokoto State, GEI said insecurity, displacement, and poverty continue to expose girls, especially in the North, to abuse, early marriage, and disrupted education.

GEI stressed the need for urgent action by government, development partners, and community leaders to ensure girls’ safety, access to education, and psychosocial support. The group advocated for safe spaces within IDP camps and crisis-prone areas to offer mentorship and health services.

“When girls are safe, educated, and empowered, entire communities benefit,” GEI said, urging ministries to partner with civil society to design gender-sensitive interventions.

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During the awareness event at Sahaba Academy, school officials praised GEI’s efforts and called for increased government investment in girls’ education and health facilities.

This year’s theme, “The Girl That I Am, The Change I Lead,” highlights the importance of empowering girls to drive change in their communities.

Source: Punch

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Close aides to the President told newsmen several initiatives were being implemented and new ones created.

While insisting that the President was not afraid of any political or pressure group, the sources said the plan was to counteract the recent actions of some northern leaders opposed to his reelection in 2027.

Some Northern politicians had expressed discontent with the Tinubu administration, citing what they described as unfair policies and marginalisation.

They also accused the President of nepotism and filling his cabinet with Lagos indigenes.

A former Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume, had lamented that the President was not accessible to lawmakers and chieftains of the All Progressives Congress.

Ndume, who was removed by the party over the comment, was replaced by the Senator representing Borno North, Tahir Monguno.

Despite being sanctioned, Ndume initially defended his statements, insisting Tinubu was not accessible. He later apologised.

Earlier in July, a former National Vice Chairman of the party in the North-West, Salihu Lukman, also berated northern politicians in the Tinubu-led administration. He described them as a “choir group poorly singing ‘on your mandate we stand’ irrespective of the shaky and staggering reality being demonstrated by the mandate holder.”

Lukman, who recently resigned from the APC, also berated Vice President Kashim Shettima for not being a rallying point for Northern politicians.

Some prominent northerners had also raised eyebrows following the decision of the Federal Government to relocate some departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria from Abuja to Lagos.

In April, a spokesman for the Northern Elders Forum, Abdulaziz Suleiman, said the forum regretted supporting Tinubu, adding that with the increased security challenges in the region, the North had learned its lessons.

Suleiman, in an interview, noted that the North would prioritise unity and agreement in choosing the country’s next top presidential candidate.

The senior official expressed sadness that northern governors were not acknowledging the contributions of the Federal Government to their states.

He pointed out that palliatives being distributed by the central government for the welfare of citizens were not getting to them, noting that bags of rice were being rebranded and shared by some governors.

According to the source, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, had been tasked with taking up causes of the north and fighting for them.

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