A tragic incident has struck Jamigbe community in Gawu Ward of Abaji Area Council, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where the head teacher of the Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School, Usman Mohammed, was killed by a venomous snake that attacked him inside his office.
The village chief of Jamigbe, His Royal Highness Alhaji Danladi Aliyu, disclosed that the snake gained access to the head teacher’s office through a crack in the wall and lay hidden under a chair before striking when the teacher entered the office.
According to him, the incident occurred in the morning as the head teacher arrived at the school to begin the day’s activities. As he prepared to sit down, a cobra reportedly attacked him, spitting venom into his eyes.
He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital in Lambata, Niger State, but was pronounced dead a few hours later.
Aliyu blamed the tragedy on the poor state of infrastructure in the school, describing the building as dilapidated and unsafe. He said the office where the incident occurred was built years ago through community efforts and has since deteriorated, with broken walls and cracks that allow reptiles and other dangerous animals to enter.
“The unfortunate thing is that the snake passed through a broken wall into the head teacher’s office. The structure is in total disrepair. It is only by God’s grace that the pupils in the adjacent classroom were spared,” the traditional ruler said.
The incident has plunged the community into mourning and fear, with parents, teachers and residents expressing concern over the safety of pupils and staff. Community members reportedly killed the snake shortly after the attack.
The village chief further noted that the school lacks a proper administrative block, with only two classrooms and the community-built office serving as the sole administrative space. He described the late head teacher as a dedicated and hardworking educator and called on the Local Education Authority (LEA), the Abaji Area Council and the FCT Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) to urgently intervene by constructing befitting classrooms and offices.
Beyond infrastructure challenges, the Chairman of the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA), Adamu Salisu, decried the shortage of teachers in the school, lamenting that many of the few available staff rarely attend classes due to the distance from Abaji town.
“We have written several times to the LEA to address the issue, but nothing has been done. We suggested that teachers who are natives of the village and hold NCE qualifications should be employed, but no positive response has been received,” he said.
The community also lamented the lack of access to potable water, relying on a single hand-pump borehole despite its growing population. Women are often forced to trek long distances to streams, especially when the hand pump breaks down.
Aliyu appealed to the Abaji Area Council to provide a motorised borehole with an overhead tank to ease the burden on residents.
An official of the Abaji Area Council Works Department, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the provision of motorised boreholes for several villages in Gawu Ward, including Jamigbe, had been captured in the council’s current budget. He added that issues relating to the school structure fall under the responsibility of the LEA, which must formally communicate with the council and the FCT UBEB.
The tragedy has renewed concerns about the safety of rural schools and the long-standing neglect of basic education infrastructure in Nigeria’s rural communities, with residents calling for urgent government intervention to prevent further loss of lives.
