By Trendsetter Tribune 
ILORIN, NIGERIA — Education in northern Kwara State has come to a standstill as schools across the Kaiama Local Government Area were shut indefinitely on Friday, February 20, 2026. The closure follows a definitive refusal by teachers to return to classrooms after a brutal massacre earlier this month that claimed the life of a local school principal, a headmistress, and several students.
The strike is a direct response to the February 3–4 “Kwara Massacre,” where extremist militants—linked to a Boko Haram cell led by a commander known as Sadiku—slaughtered over 200 people in the villages of Woro and Nuku.
The Killing of the Principal
Witnesses and community leaders confirmed that a primary school principal and a headmistress were among those targeted during the “execution phase” of the attack.
- The Attack: Militants on motorcycles surrounded the villages and used a false “call to prayer” to lure residents into the open before opening fire.
- Targeting Education: The principal was reportedly executed in front of his home after the group set fire to several educational buildings, consistent with the group’s “anti-Western education” ideology.
- Student Victims: Initial reports from the Red Cross confirm that at least 12 schoolchildren were among those killed or burnt alive during the ten-hour siege.
Teachers’ Demands: “No Security, No School”
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Kwara State chapter, declared that its members would not resume duties until the federal government provides permanent military outposts in the affected border communities.
“We cannot ask our members to be sacrificial lambs. A principal was killed, a headmistress was killed, and children were slaughtered in their homes. Until there is a visible and permanent military presence in these schools, they remain closed indefinitely.” — NUT Representative, Kwara State, Feb 19, 2026
A Regional Security Emergency
The massacre is being described as the deadliest jihadist attack of the decade outside of northeast Nigeria.
| Category | Detail |
| Total Casualties | 162–200+ confirmed dead; hundreds displaced. |
| Perpetrators | Attributed to Boko Haram (Sadiku cell); some officials point to Lakurawa. |
| Motive | Retaliation for villagers rejecting a demand to adopt extremist Sharia law. |
| Government Action | President Tinubu has ordered an army battalion to move into Kaiama. |
The “Displaced” Education Crisis
With schools shut, thousands of children in the Borgu region are now without access to learning. Many teachers have fled to the state capital, Ilorin, or across the border into Benin Republic, fearing that the forests around the Kainji National Park have become a permanent base for the insurgents.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has called the incident a “national disaster” and a “genocide,” but local residents say they feel abandoned. “We are farmers and educators,” one displaced resident told reporters. “Food is not our primary problem—security is. We cannot teach when we are waiting to die.”