Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas, has directed all public and private schools to deboard their students with immediate effect.

The directive was as a result of increasing cases of abduction of students by terrorists in some states.

The order was conveyed in a letter issued by the State Commissioner for Education, Dr Augustina Godwin, and addressed to all principals and proprietors of public and private schools in the state.

According to the letter, all boarding schools both public and private are to deboard all students and operate as a day for the moment.

The commissioner explained that the state government has observed that the boarding students, either in public or private secondary schools, are the target of the bandits, citing reference to the recent abduction of students in Kebbi and Niger States.

The letter was copied to the Executive Secretary of the Taraba State Post Primary Schools Management Board, the Chairmen of APSON, and NAPPS for immediate action.

Meanwhile, Imams of Friday Mosques in Jalingo, Taraba State capital, have condemned the abduction of students in Kebbi and Niger states as well as kidnapping of innocent people in some parts of the country by terrorists.

The Imams, in separate sermons during Friday prayers, expressed concern over rising insecurity in the North and called on government to take urgent steps to bring an end to the trend.

Sheikh Salihu Barau, Chief Imam of Nana Aisha Central Jalingo, in his sermon, lamented the growing insecurity in the country, urging government to ensure protection of schools.

He said the kidnapping of schoolchildren, if not checked, would discourage parents from sending their children and wards to schools.

“Our future depends on our young ones and if they are not educated, we are going to have uneducated generation of people in the near future and that will bring doom to our society, especially in the North where the case is rampant.” the Imam cautioned.

He, however, called for collective and sustained prayers among both Muslims and Christians to bring to an end the security challenges ravaging the country. (Daily Trust)