The Nigerian diocese suspends activities at a high school after a terrorist attack

The Diocese of Makurdi in north-central Nigeria has suspended operations at one of its secondary schools after a recent attack injured a civil defense officer and traumatized many students.

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Fr Angus Frazer Memorial High School is both a boarding and day school located in the state capital, Benue.

Gunmen entered the school on the night of May 7 and fired indiscriminately while students were sleeping, according to a statement from the diocesan communications director, Father. Moses Iorapuu.

A team of civil defense officers responded to the attack. An officer was shot and is being treated.

Iorapuu praised the officers for their courage and said without their response “the situation would have been catastrophic.”

Following the attack, the Diocese of Makurdi immediately suspended activities at the high school until stricter security measures could be put in place.

“The decision to stop activities was a preventive measure to ensure the safety of our children and prevent an unimaginable disaster,” Iorapuu said.

The priest told The pillar that diocesan officials “have written to the governor and state superintendent to place armed security officers in our schools.”

However, they have not yet received a response from government officials, he said, stressing that “ensuring the safety of lives and property is the responsibility of the government.”

Kidnappings and other violence against Christians have become particularly common in the northern part of Nigeria, where both Boko Haram militants and Fulani herdsmen have often carried out attacks with impunity.

According to experts, the ongoing violence has several causes.

Fulani herders have sought to expand their grazing territory amid desertification in parts of the country by destroying villages and farms that stood in their way.

In addition, Islamist terror cells believed to intimidate local governments in northern Nigeria recruit from Islamic pastoralist communities.

Iorapuu said that while all of Nigeria has experienced violence and instability, “Benue State has been the epicenter of attacks by armed herdsmen for two decades.”

“This part of the city is notorious for killings and kidnappings by suspected herdsmen,” Iorapuu said.

“We attribute this to the fact that we are Christians,” he continued. “Priests and worshipers were killed at Mass, our churches destroyed and farmland destroyed.”

Fr. Angus Frazer Memorial High School was established in 2022 as a boarding and day school, educating both boys and girls. It is named after the late Fr. Angus Fraser, CSSp, MFR, an educator and founder of the Via Christi Society who was known for his efforts to educate and mentor young people in Nigeria.

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