Snakes and Lizards Replace Pupils as Benue Government Abandons Owukpa Primary Schools (video)

Public primary schools in Owukpa, a community in Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State, are collapsing under the weight of government neglect, insecurity, and systemic failure — leaving classrooms empty, pupils displaced, and reptiles as the only occupants.

Once vibrant centers of learning that produced respected professionals across Nigeria, these institutions now stand in ruin. A recent on-the-ground report by IDOMA TELEVISION paints a grim picture: classrooms without roofs, walls crumbling, blackboards collecting dust, and playgrounds overtaken by weeds and wild animals.

Schools Reduced to Skeletons

LGEA Primary School Ikwo, established in the early 1970s, is a stark symbol of the collapse. Once bustling with children and teachers, it is now an abandoned structure overrun by snakes and lizards — not a single pupil or staff member remains.

The situation at Ekere Owukpa is even worse. Once a beacon of community education, the school now operates with just one teacher and a handful of students. Frustrated parents have fled to private schools where they still exist, even as poverty limits access.

Across the entire Owukpa district — from Achi Ugbugbu to Udaburu, Ejule to Okpudu, and Atamaka — a similar pattern unfolds. Some schools have no students. Others have no teachers. Most have neither.

Insecurity and Desertion

Years of policy reversals, funding failure, and worsening insecurity have driven educators away. In some villages, the threat of violence has forced teachers to flee, leaving already-crippled schools to decay further.

Retired headteachers who once led bustling institutions now describe schools that echo with silence. “It used to be the pride of the village,” one said. “Now, even goats don’t come near.”

A Generation Left Behind

This is not a failure of the children. It is a failure of leadership. The children of Owukpa have not abandoned education — it is education that has abandoned them. These pupils are bright, eager, and full of potential. But they lack books, teachers, classrooms, and above all, a government willing to invest in their future.

Unless urgent intervention is made, these schools may never reopen. For many in Owukpa, the question is no longer if the public education system will collapse — but whether it already has.

See video below: