The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has said teachers across the country may be forced to withdraw their services if the government fails to halt the rising wave of attacks, killings, and mass abductions in schools, describing the situation as a looming collapse of the nation’s education system.

Speaking at a press conference on behalf of the National Executive Council (NEC), NUT National President, Comrade Audu Titus Amba, condemned the latest attacks in Kebbi and Niger States, where terrorists killed a vice principal and a security guard, abducted 25 students from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, and kidnapped over 300 pupils, students, and 12 staff members from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Agwara LGA.

Amba described the attacks as barbaric, unacceptable and a direct assault on the very foundation of education in Nigeria warning that teachers and learners have become an endangered species.

He said: “We consider these barbaric attacks on schools as unacceptable and therefore call on the Federal Government to stop the incessant attacks on schools and mass kidnappings of teachers and students in order to save the Education system from total collapse in the country.”

Amba lamented that the spate of school invasions and mass kidnappings represents a continuation of a decade-long tragedy that includes the Chibok abductions of 2014, the Dapchi incident, and numerous raids in Kaduna, Zamfara, and other states that have been ongoing till date.

“The NUT views these grievous Incidents not just as attacks on schools, teachers and learners but a direct assault on the very foundation of education and sustainable development of our nation.

“The classroom is supposed to be a place of safety and hope. To have our learning environments destroyed with such brazen violence spells doom for the future of our children and the nation.”

The NUT accused the government of failing to effectively implement the Safe Schools Declaration and other protection policies, noting that attacks have forced school closures in several states. “This amounts to mortgaging the future of our children,” Amba said.

The union called on the Federal and State Governments to ensure the immediate rescue of all abducted students and staff, strengthen security in vulnerable areas, and prosecute perpetrators. It expressed solidarity with the families of victims and with the affected communities, saying every moment the abducted children remain in captivity is “a scar on our collective conscience.”

Warning that the union would not watch teachers continue to die on duty, Amba declared: “If this ugly trend of inhuman and deadly attacks on schools persists, the NUT will be left with no other option than to call out all teachers to down tools and sit at home until their security is guaranteed.”

He urged security agencies to intensify operations nationwide to protect citizens from what he described as “inhuman and barbaric activities” of terrorists and bandits as he appealed to the government “stop the attacks on schools now.”