Nigeria Closes schools in Abuja over fears of attack

The news has alarmed parents in a city dominated by civil servants, many of whom send their children to private schools.

While some Abuja schools had already closed for the semester, the majority were not scheduled to close until the following week.

Residents of Abuja have been uneasy since armed men broke into a city prison and released hundreds of criminals a few weeks ago.

At least three soldiers from an elite unit of presidential guards were killed in the city’s Bwari district on Sunday.

They were responding to threats of an impending attack on the nearby Nigerian Law School. Veritas University, which is nearby, has since closed and sent students home.

The following day, the government closed one of its secondary schools in Abuja’s Kwali suburb due to a nearby security incident.

Since President Buhari took office in 2015, the city has experienced unprecedented levels of insecurity.

Security agencies have recently increased their presence in strategic locations throughout the city centre.

However, even among politicians, this appears to be doing little to alleviate concerns.

This week, an MP advised colleagues who were away from the city not to return for their own safety, highlighting Mr Buhari’s administration’s failure to deal with widespread insecurity across the country.

On Wednesday, opposition senators gave the president a six-week deadline to resolve the security crisis or face impeachment, despite the fact that they lack the votes to do so.

At least ten schools were attacked and mass abducted last year in Zamfara, Kaduna, Kebbi, and Niger states.

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