Insecurity: Adamawa To Fence Public Schools Against Kidnappers; Employ Teachers

The Adamawa State Government has unveiled plans to fence public schools across the state, beginning with those in rural communities, as part of measures to protect students and teachers from kidnapping and other security threats.
The government said the initiative would strengthen security around schools and create a safer learning environment for pupils and teachers. It also plans to train teachers to identify potential security threats and take proactive measures to prevent attacks.
The Executive Chairman of the Adamawa State Universal Basic Education Commission (ADSUBEB), Dr Murtala Umar, disclosed this on Wednesday in Yola, the state capital.
Umar also announced plans to recruit more than 3,000 teachers to address staff shortages in public schools, particularly in rural areas, where inadequate teaching personnel have continued to affect learning.
He explained that the next recruitment exercise would adopt a community-based approach to ensure that teachers employed for rural schools remain in the communities where they are needed.
According to him, the government introduced the strategy because teachers recruited for rural postings often seek transfers to urban centres, leaving schools in remote communities understaffed.
“The next recruitment is strictly going to be community-based. This is because when teachers are recruited and posted, they transfer to towns, so the schools in rural areas are left with little staff,” Umar said.
“We introduced the community-based recruitment strategy to ensure that only those based in the areas where the schools are located will be recruited.”
The SUBEB chairman said the administration of Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri had also made significant investments in educational infrastructure and teacher recruitment.
He disclosed that more than 25,000 classrooms had been constructed across the state through the utilisation of funding from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
Umar further said the state had recruited more than 4,000 teachers between 2021 and 2023, while another 5,000 teachers had recently been recruited to strengthen staffing in primary and post-primary schools.
“The good news is that we have just finished the recruitment of another batch of 5,000 teachers. This is the wonderful job the present administration is doing in the education sector,” he said.
The planned fencing of schools comes amid growing concerns over the safety of educational institutions in parts of Nigeria, where attacks and kidnappings have disrupted learning and heightened fears among parents, teachers and school administrators.
For Adamawa, the security initiative is particularly significant as the state continues to grapple with educational challenges, including inadequate infrastructure and a high number of out-of-school children.
The state is officially classified as an Educationally Less Developed State (ELDS), a designation that attracts special policy and admission considerations in parts of Nigeria’s education system.
The government hopes that improved school security, additional classrooms and increased teacher recruitment will help strengthen access to education, particularly in rural communities where shortages of teachers and infrastructure remain major challenges.