In the Zago community of Niger State, children go to school every day knowing they may be sharing their classroom with snakes.
Zago Primary School, which has served the rural community in Lapai Local Government Area for more than 50 years, has fallen into shocking disrepair. Walls are cracked, roofs leak during rainfall, and there are no desks or chairs. Pupils sit on bare floors to take lessons.
The dangers are not limited to the collapsing infrastructure. Parents say snakes often crawl into classrooms while children are in session. “This is the only school our children have, but it is dangerous. We fear for their lives every day,” one parent told MonITNG, a civic group that documented conditions at the school.
Despite repeated appeals, the school has not been renovated in decades, even though it is officially recognised as a polling unit during elections. MonITNG says the neglect amounts to denying children their right to safety and education.
Some parents have already withdrawn their children, adding to Nigeria’s rising number of out-of-school children. Campaigners warn that without urgent intervention from Niger State and the Universal Basic Education Commission, Zago’s pupils face a future trapped in poverty and illiteracy.
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