Kaduna Govt. Shuts down GGC Zonkwa Over Fire Outbreak

It is will be recalled that fire had razed two hostels in GGC and a hostel in GGSS Zonkwa in the early hours of Tuesday while students were in class. And prior to this the Kaduna State Government has announced the closure of Government Girls College (GGC) and Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS) in Zonkwa, Zangon Kataf local government area of the state following fire outbreak that gutted it’s hostels.

The state’s Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr Shehu Adamu, confirmed the decision in Zonkwa while briefing newsmen shortly after he visited the schools to ascertain the level of damage caused by the inferno.

The Commissioner explained that the decision to close down the schools until further notice was to forestall further outbreak that might lead to loss of lives, particularly if it occur at night.

According to him, “I ordered that the schools be closed down as soon as I received the sad news of the fire incident to prevent further disaster.

“The worst-case scenario is for another fire incident to occur when the students are sleeping; lives would be lost. We are even lucky this one occurred in the morning when the students were in their classes, “he said.

Adamu described the fire outbreak as unfortunate, adding that the cause of the fire in GGC is being investigated, while a suspect has been arrested in connection with that of GGSS.

“Based on the report on my table, while people are trying to put out the fire at GGC, there was an alarm of another fire at a hostel in the neighbouring GGSS.

“A JSS I girl, (name withheld) however, was arrested at the scene and has confessed to have started the fire.

“When asked why she did it, she said she burnt down the hostel because she doesn’t like boarding school, but her parent insisted she must come”.

The commissioner said that the girl had been handed over to the police for further questioning to ascertain the validity of her confession, her mental health and other possible reasons or accomplice.

He commended the schools management and the members of the community for helping to put out the fire and prevent it from spreading to other structures.

Dr. Adamu said that the schools would re-open as soon as the hostels were repaired and investigations concluded on the cause of the fire.