Schooling In Tears: How herdsmen crises paralysed basic education in Benue (1)

• We ate raw cassava inside bush for several days fleeing from herdsmen –Pupils

In the last four years, a number of public schools in Agatu, Logo and Guma local government areas of Benue State have been brutally attacked by suspected killer herdsmen, leaving the pupils either completely out of school or learning in deplorable conditions. According to the state’s universal education board (SUBEB), more than 50 public primary school structures were destroyed this year alone, forcing more than 20,000 children out of school and over 16,000 housed in different Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps. INNOCENT DURU, who visited the volatile areas, reports that most of the pupils are psychologically traumatised after the attacks which led to the death of some of their colleagues and teachers. Some of the survivors said they fed on raw cassava for several days roaming about in the bush after escaping from those who attacked their schools

RCM Primary School, Ikyule, in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State,  established in 1972, was one of the choice schools for members of the community who wanted sound and qualitative education for their wards and children.  The 46-year old school is reputed to have produced many alumni who have excelled  in their various life endeavours.

Today, the school, which used to be the pride of the community,  is in  ruins  following myriad attacks  by suspected herdsmen who allegedly set it ablaze  in  2014.  The entire roof and ceiling  of the one block of  six classrooms, tucked deep inside the expansive compound, has completely fallen apart.  What remains of the school is a naked body of blocks that stretched slightly above the lintel level.  The decaying structure  is also now without windows and doors. All fittings were vandalised during the multiple raids, community members say.

The brutal attacks forced the school to close down. So, on the day that this reporter visited, instead of  school children running around the compound or learning in classrooms, it  was cows that were found grazing on  the premises now surrounded by thick bush and growing trees. Shepherding the cows was a dark, slim herdsman holding  a long  stick across his shoulders.

Following  the mindless attacks  and apprehension that the assailants were not far away,  pupils  and teachers fled the school. The closest school, NKST Ayilamo, which is about 10 minutes away on foot, was also not an option for pupils and their parents as the school had also at various times been  attacked  by suspected herdsmen.

This reporter went in search of the headmistress of the defunct school, Suen Dinnah. She lamented the fate that befell her school.

“Most of the pupils have left the community, while others have gone to other schools,” Mrs Dinnah said. “I have been trying to talk with the PTA chairman to see how we can renovate the school because it is not proper to  abandon it like that.”

What the headmistress did not say is that a number of pupils whose parents could not send off to far-away schools have dropped out of school. Parents remain distressed and angry with government over the situation.  “The government appears insensitive to the fate of the school,” said one parent who identified himself as Moses. “How can a school that has existed for decades not be renovated after it was destroyed by herdsmen? They are simply playing politics with our lives and those of our children.”

The local government, which is the home of former governor Gabriel  Suswan,  was like a war zone during the reporter’s visit.  The Coordinator of Benue chapter of the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education  for All,  a national  movement on education matters, Rosemary Hua,  whose organisation collaborates with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), said even officials of the global body  working to assist the embattled kids have refrained from going to Logo  because of the level of insecurity in the area.  Stern looking and combat ready security officers were seen taking strategic positions in different parts of the area. Some of them told this reporter they were on deployment to repel further attacks on the community.

Like RCM, Like NKST

RCM Primary School is just one of the schools that were either completely or partly destroyed across Benue State following incessant clashes between hersdmen and farmers. NKST Primary School, Ayilamo, also in Logo local government, suffered a similar fate. During a recent visit, this reporter saw pupils whose psyche appeared to have been battered by the horrors they have been exposed to since 2014 when suspected herdsmen  began to attack their school.

For the past four years, parents say, sending their children to school daily has been like throwing them into the valley of death as they were not sure of their returning home alive. Two of the three school buildings were set ablaze during one of the attacks . One of the vandalised buildings, painted green, had piles of burnt iron chairs in it. It has since been abandoned and now ovegrown with weeds.   Renovation of the other block of classroom had long stopped. The abandoned  building  was without ceiling, windows and doors. A good number of the pupils sat on broken tables and woods in the dusty classrooms.

In some of the classrooms, pupils in different classes were merged in a class. To differentiate between the classes, the pupils  backed one another and had to wait for one class to finish lesson before another starts.

While expressing his desire to have good education, a primary six pupil of the school, Todo Gbawuan, lamented the poor learning condition in the school. “There is no feeling that we are  schooling,” he said. “We lack all the basic things we need as pupils. To make matters worse, there is tension all over the place. We can’t concentrate even if we have the best of structures, furniture and books because of the herdsmen.

“Our ears and eyes are always divided between listening to lessons and watching out for the herdsmen, who always come unannounced. Please sir, help us.”

His school mate, Tehemba Yagba, a primary four pupil, also expressed frustration with the anxiety-filled environment in which they are learning. “We are always living in fears and there is no way we can concentrate,” he said. “When we see smoke or hear an unusual sound, we will  immediately think it is herdsmen and begin to run. ”

Shedding light on the condition of the school, one of the teachers, who asked not to be named so he is not punished by government for speaking with journalists said: “Our buildings, furniture and books were razed by the herdsmen in 2014. From then till the end of last year, we were coming and running away from school. They still came to attack the school in January, forcing us to abandon school for seven months. We just resumed in August after those January attacks. For two years, we taught the pupils under the trees.

“It was recently that we adopted this motor gate approach where you merge pupils in different classes in one place. One group faces the front while another class faces the back. When one group is being taught, the other group would be idle because if both of them should be taught simultaneously, there would be distractions.”

The teacher added: “There has been some respite since the rainy season began because the flood obstructs the movement of the killer herdsmen. Our fears are about the coming dry season when there would be no flood to stop the herdsmen. We appreciate our security operatives for their efforts because if not for their presence too, we would not be here in the first place.”

Palpable fear was thick in the air at Tombo Community Secondary School when  this reporter visited in October. Armed attackers had  repeatedly struck at the school, leaving some of the structures there  in ruins. Consistently apprehensive that the invaders could visit again, pupils said they were now always at alert like sprinters waiting for the blast of the whistle to take off. Any unusual movement by fellow pupils had sometimes caused others to run without waiting to know what was wrong.

The administrative  block and a  block of four classrooms of the school, founded in 1998, were burnt in 2014 by suspected herdsmen without anything done to renovate them since then. The roofs, ceilings,  windows and doors of the buildings are all gone. Not even a blackboard was left on the wall to keep the memory that one of the buildings was ever used for learning. The blocks have also begun to fall apart.

One of the teachers in the school told this reporter: “We are in a war situation. We are not different from the people living in Liberia or Congo when those countries were gripped by civil wars.  We are always on the alert because the herdsmen can invade the community anytime without minding the presence of security operatives in the community. The moment we observe that danger is lurking, we would dismiss the pupils and also run away.”

He added: “The population of pupils has dropped, while teachers from other communities outside this area have sought transfers because of the attacks. Vital records were burnt during the attacks. We were in school one day when they came and all we could do was run away.  Since then, the government has not deemed it fit to do something about the buildings. There is no concern about the condition under which the pupils are learning. We were never used to this kind of unpleasant condition. We don’t get supplies of text books.  We only buy from the market.”

Pupils abandon education, take to farming in Guma

It was 9 am one Sunny day in October when children of school ages should be in school. But instead of being in school,  children in Uikpan, a suburb of Guma Local Government Area, were either heading to farm or hawking wares around the community. Some of the kids were seen bearing baskets with which they planned to bring back farm produce, while others were seen playfully brandishing cutlasses  as they  strolled to their parents’ farms barefooted in the company of their siblings and parents.

In the last  four years, the kids have had to be out  of school for about three years as a result of the attacks on their schools. Following their long absence from school, the pupils could hardly remember a word in English. Every word spoken by this reporter had to be interpreted to them in their native language.

The incumbent governor, Samuel Ortom, hails from the local government where 72 people were killed in January, this year. In fact, the natives said it is the worst hit of all the local government areas. Like what happened in Logo, the  guide and other members of the community were also quick to tell our correspondent that they would not be able to go beyond certain areas to avoid being attacked.

The only  public primary schools in Uikpan, LGEA Primary School, had come under repeated attacks, forcing pupils there out of school. At the time this reporter visited, what remains of the school, which shares the same compound with UBE Junior Secondary School, was being inhabited by mobile policemen drafted to the area to curtail the menace of suspected herdsmen. “It has been long I went to school,” a pupil of the LGEA Primary School,  Sonu Vesue, said. “I have been going to farm instead  but I sincerely prefer going to school. But I really can’t forget the attacks and they sadden me all the time.”

Another pupil of the school, Jessica Kaha, also lamented their ordeal. “ I stopped going to school since the crisis began. Our school and others are not operating again because of the attacks,” he said.

The community has three public secondary schools. One of them,  Chombu Tar Comprehensive Secondary School,  has been shut down since 2014 after suspected herdsmen attacked the area. It was completely deserted and overgrown by weed when this reporter visited.

The UBE Junior Secondary School and Mbabai Community  Secondary School resumed academic activities in 2016 after they were attacked in 2014. Late last year,  the latter was forced to close down after another attack, while the former closed down since January, this year.

The principal of UBE Junior Secondary School, Vitalis said: “ We don’t know when we will resume academic activities because security men are still occupying the classes. Most of the pupils may not come back because they have gone with their parents to other places to farm.”

Some parents were close to tears when asked about the interruption the attacks have caused their children’s education. “The future of our kids is very bleak,” an apparently crest-fallen parents, Raymond Kinda, said. “Our prayer is that our children should be better than us but how would this be possible when they don’t have the opportunity of completing ordinary primary school?

“There is no parent that would be happy that the children have at this tender age dropped out of school for no fault of theirs and engaging  in farming and playing around every day.The government at all levels should do something urgently to restore peace to our communities, rebuild the schools and provide enabling environment for education and other activities to thrive again.”

On a meal of raw cassava

One of the worst hit areas is Agatu Local Government  where hundreds of natives were reportedly killed  with a large number of residential buildings  and schools set ablaze.

The journey from Obagaji, the local government headquarters, which is considered relatively safe (although it was attacked)  to Odugbehon, one of the affected rural communities dotted by bad and slippery roads, is nine kilometres that took close to two hours’ ride on motorcycle.

From Odugbehon to the other neigbouring communities also took a journey of five to eight  kilometers. Every move through the bush path evoked fears as the attackers were said to have ambushed and killed many people on that road.

That is the distance and horrible path most of the innocent children had to cover as they fled from suspected herdsmen who invaded their schools.

“Some of the unfortunate kids were cut into two with swords by the attackers,” this reporter’s guide said.

Several months after the attacks on their schools, pupils of RCM Primary School, Ugboju, a suburb of the local government  area, say they remain traumatised by the sight of the rubble of their school buildings razed by suspected herdsmen in 2016.

The five school buildings  of three classrooms each  were completely burnt down by the attackers. Pupils were then made to learn in harsh weather conditions under trees. One of the destroyed buildings has been renovated by the UBE  but only a classroom is ready for use. Even that classroom has no furniture yet.

The pupils said the violence in their communities has done incalculable damage to their lives. “The herdsmen killed Godday, one of my classmates while we were fleeing,” a pupil, Benjamin Olotun, said. “The incident is still very fresh in my memory. When  the herdsmen attacked our school, I escaped  into the bush and  ate raw cassava for several days.  I hadn’t eaten raw cassava before and never thought of doing that but when hunger dealt with me inside the bush and raw cassava was the only available thing, I had to uproot and eat it.  They (attackers) have affected our interest and love for education because our mind is always on the ugly experience and what lies ahead. We also don’t concentrate learning under a tree.”

Discussing the incident with Ehi Otobu, another pupil, was like opening an old wound.  “When the herdsmen attacked our school, most of us could not run to our houses because they had set the buildings on fire,” Otobu said. “We ran into the bush without knowing the whereabouts of our parents and siblings. We fed on raw cassava for several days in the bush and drank water from the stream. We peeled the cassava with our teeth and ate them in the face of hunger.  Thereafter, I was taken to the IDP camp where I reunited with my parents.

“The herdsmen burnt the entire buildings in our school. They also burnt all our books and furniture. We learn under the tree now and the moment rain wants to fall, we would all run home. We have been psychologically traumatised since the incident and still fear-stricken because the herdsmen can come here anytime”.

One of the teachers in the school said  the herdsmen burnt four buildings comprising three classrooms each during the attack. “The incident took place on March 17, 2016 and all the furniture and books belonging to the school and the pupils were burnt,” said the teacher who asked not to be named because he is a civil servant and has no permission to speak to journalists. “The pupils have been learning in this manner since then. The school was established in 1943. All the records that were intact were burnt by the herdsmen.

“UBEC recently built a block of three classrooms for us but we are only using one of the classrooms.  The other two classrooms are being used by artisans working on two new buildings funded by a non-governmental organisation.”

He added: “It is hell teaching and learning in this condition. We can manage to concentrate now that the rains are falling because the routes through which the herdsmen come here are flooded and they can’t wade through it to come and attack us.  But we have fears as we are approaching the dry season because the routes would be free for the herdsmen to come in and attack us.”

There has also been no respite for pupils of RCM Primary School, Odugbehon, since the school was vandalised two years ago.  The pupils had three of their four school buildings burnt by the herdsmen. What is left of one of the buildings, built with mud, could pass for a relic  which reminds the community that a block of classrooms once existed there.

The other building, which has no roof and ceiling, has started falling apart and now serves as a breeding ground for rodents and other animals.

Following the shortage of classrooms, pupils in different classes are now cramped in a borrowed classroom at UBE  Secondary School that shares the same compound with the vandalised school.

It is a daily battle with chocking  heat  for the pupils who give more attention to fanning themselves with their exercise books than listening to what the teachers are  saying.

Apart from primary schools, the herdsmen also unleashed terror on secondary schools. One of them, Government Junior Secondary School, Okokolo, is reputed as one of the best  in Agatu Local Government Area. Between 2001 when it was established and early 2016, the school produced outstanding pupils who have moved on to further education.

But midway into 2016, the school’s hope of celebrating 15 years of existence was shattered by the suspected herdsmen, who invaded the premises during school hours, killing one of the teachers and setting everything in the school  ablaze.

Students and their teachers now hold classes under a tree located in a primary school beside the burnt school.  Like other pupils learning in open places, it has been distraction galore for the UBE pupils. Their plight is aggravated by the sight of armed military men  providing security for the people.  For the pupils, seeing armed men while learning reminds them of the horror they  suffered previously.

According to Benjamin Mathew, a Junior Secondary School  (JSS)  3 pupil of the school, the attack triggered the litany of woes he and his colleagues, including their  teachers, have been experiencing till date.

For Juliet Moses, a  15-year-old pupil of the school, the attack has killed her enthusiasm for education. According to her, going to school has become a matter of fulfilling an obligation and nothing more.

“Horror is all I see and think about in the class because of my last experience,” she said. “If there is an unusual movement in the bush, my heart would skip because I would think it is herdsmen coming again. If I hear the sound of knock-out, I would shudder thinking it is a  gunshot. That is the mood here.

“My ambition is to study Law in the university but the condition we have found ourselves has cast shadows over my dream. I don’t concentrate in class anymore because fear is all over me.  I have lost interest in education and all I am doing now is just to fulfil all righteousness.”

Parents lament children’s predicament

Parents of the beleaguered pupils have described the  deplorable conditions in which their wards are learning as disturbing. They regretted that nothing tangible has been done to ameliorate the general condition of the affected schools, fearing that the consequence could be very grave for the future of their children.

“There is nothing we can do about the situation,” Isaac Nomsoor, a parent in Uikpan, said. “There is still tension everywhere as you can see. If  you move down this area to places like Tse Orkpen, Atongo,  Ortserga, Haaga, Chia, Akema, Baar, Tor Uke, Gawan, Tse Umande, you will  see that people are no more living there because of the fear of herdsmen.

“The schools in all those places have not been functional for a long time. Some of the herdmen are still carrying guns.”

Also speaking, the head of Odugbehon community in Agatu, Bawa Haruna said: “As parents, we are not happy because our children  are being denied their rights to quality education. The state in which the pupils are learning is not conducive. We are only encouraging  them to go to school because any day wasted cannot be regained.”

Another parent, Jerry Eigie, said: “My heart bleeds for our children. If nothing is done to salvage the situation, their future will be hopelessly bleak.

“The government hasn’t really done so  much for the affected schools.  It could even be that the government is doing its best but the executors of the projects are not making us feel the impact. If we are not feeling the impact, it means the government has done nothing.”

The Chairman of the Benue State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Paul Tachin, however, said the state is doing its best in constructing new buildings and renovating old ones.

“We have been working but the effort is still lesser than what it is supposed to be,” Mr. Tachin said. “Some of the buildings we recently built or renovated  were destroyed again.  We need external intervention to help us overcome our challenge. We have 2, 723  schools across the state. Some are in difficult terrains but contractors are working on them.”

 Benue can’t meet UBEC, SDG targets- Experts

Stakeholders in the education sector in Benue said the  state cannot meet up with the targets  set by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC ) laws, the National Education Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) going by the conditions of the schools and the pupils.

The key objective of UBEC, among others, include ensuring an uninterrupted access to nine-year formal education by providing free and compulsory basic education for every child of school-going age.

Goal Four of the SDG, on the other hand,  seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

A former Minister of State for Education, Jerry Agada,  who hails from the state, described the situation as pathetic. “ If anybody tells you that he or she likes the condition in which our children are studying now, he is lying, Mr. Agada said. “All the classes they are organising in all these camps are just  makeshift arrangements.  The displacement has actually affected  the situation of learning in our primary schools.

“As long as they continue to stay in IDP camps,  no teaching arrangement will be as effective as they  are learning in their schools.  Let nobody deceive you by saying that they are in IDP camps and learning normally.  They are teaching them under mango trees, open air etc.  it is just not convenient.  Let the classrooms be rebuilt so that the children can learn in a proper way. Anything outside this would not augur well for the system.

Speaking on the state achieving goals set by various local and international groups on education, he said: “As long as the crisis is not completely over,  it would be difficult for us to claim that we are going to meet all those development goals.  Unless something drastic is done  to reverse the situation, we would not be able to meet the target. If nothing urgent is done, it would affect their progress as far as education is concerned because whether you like it or not, children have to be taught in a conducive atmosphere, any other thing is just ad hoc.”

The Coordinator of the Benue chapter of the Civil Society Action  Coalition on Education  for All, Rosemary Hua , also said there is no way the state  can meet UBEC and SDG targets.

“Some of them (pupils) have lost interest in schooling,” Ms Hua said. “How to bring them back now is another issue.  Some of the female children have got married and some others now operate as sex workers.   Some do menial jobs to get money  and some others have been trafficked.  Some of the adolescent girls  are being used as sex machines. Those that are around 17 years old are worst affected.

“UNICEF is constructing temporary places in Abagana, Aghan, and Daudu to accommodate those children so that they can continue learning. They are not even allowed to go to Logo because of the insecurity there. UNICEF is afraid of going there. The government  should have started something and invite this group but unfortunately, they were saying they didn’t have money.”

• This report was supported by Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) Regulators Monitoring Programme (REMOP) for the Education Sector.