Ei-iE

EI condemns the reported killing of between 29 and 59 school boys at their boarding school in Northern Nigeria in the early hours of 25 February. It is claimed that the boys were shot or burnt to death by the terrorist group commonly known as Boko Haram (which roughly translates as ‘western education is forbidden’ from the Hausa language).

The boarding school is a Federal Government College in Yobe state near Damaturu, the state's capital city, where 11-18 year-old pupils were taught. The State Governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, has condemned the attacks, and noted that the murdered children had no chance because the police and security forces took five hours to arrive at the scene.

The terrorist attackers threw explosives, sprayed gunfire into the dormitories as the students slept in their beds, and hacked some students down as they tried to run to safety. Male students were targeted during the attack, and female students were told by the terrorists to go home, get married, and forget about getting an education.

300 schools targeted

This is not the first time that Boko Haram has targeted schools and students in Northern Nigeria, where they began their insurgency in 2009 with the aim of establishing an Islamic State in northern Nigeria, which is predominantly Muslim. Attacking schools and other civilians has become their terror tactic of choice: secondary schools in Yobe were closed until the start of a new school year after similar attacks last June and July. Boko Haram has burned down more than 300 schools since 2009, killing scores of students and teachers.

In a press statement, dated 26 February, Obong I.J. Obong, Secretary General of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, EI’s national affiliate, called on the Federal Government of Nigeria “to strengthen security and ensure the protection of our children and the entire school system in Yobe State in particular and Nigeria in general”.

Schools must be safe sanctuaries

Safeguarding against these kinds of violent terrorist attacks on education and on students is the reason why EI affiliates insist that governments cannot claim to provide quality education for all, if schools are not safe sanctuaries for teaching and learning.

School-related terrorist violence is often highly gendered, irrespective of whether the intended targets are students or teachers. Terrorist groups such as Boko Haram choose to kill male students who are attending school because they are unable to recruit them. Female students are forced out of school and back into the domestic realm to prevent them gaining independence through education.

“Now, more than ever, it is time for us to fully understand and be on guard against the regressive enemies of education for all,” said EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen. “Our strongest weapons are our unity and union solidarity across borders, and our tenacity in the face of terrorist violence.”