The minister says the attacks are causing a huge setback for education.
The Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, has appealed to armed groups to stop attacking schools and abducting students.
Hundreds of students have been kidnapped from schools in Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Zamfara, Edo, Benue, and Plateau since last December, a huge spike following in the footsteps of high-profile abductions in Chibok, Borno in 2014, and Dapchi, Yobe in 2018.
A majority of the students have been released after negotiations between the government and the kidnappers, but hundreds currently remain in captivity, and some killed by their captors.
Nwajiuba during a televised interview on Tuesday, August 3, 2021 begged the kidnappers to release the students and leave learning institutions alone.
The minister said security agencies are doing their best in tackling the criminals, but their activities are causing a huge setback for education.
"I am appealing to the bandits and whoever talks to them to leave our schools alone.
"We already have many issues from Kagara to Jangebe and all the other places they have gone to just to disrupt schooling activities for our children.
"This is unprecedented and the atmosphere of insecurity that they cause parents is a big setback for us in the school agenda," he said.
Nigeria has the highest population of out-of-school children in the world, and the constant attacks on schools have damaged government efforts to improve enrolment figures.
Nwajiuba said the disruption caused by the attacks on schools is affecting education especially in the northern region that already faces many challenges that need to be solved.
He said the government understands its responsibility to put an end to the attacks and that it is doing its best.
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