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• Church, schools, hospitals forced to shut in Benue community.
From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
For students of St. Winifred Girls Secondary School, Ihugh, Vandeikya Local Government (LG) Benue State, tragic incidents have become a routine occurrence in the school.
Consequently, the school that was built on a strong academic foundation of learning and excellence has morphed into place of fear, uncertainty and repeated losses and intellectual stagnation.
The tragic tale about the school is awesome. In the last few months, the school has recorded four fire outbreaks, amounting to a loss of millions of Naira worth of resources.
The latest incident, which occurred on Sunday, October 11, 2026, was more than another devastation for the students. It shattered their hope to the last. Before that outbreak, they had hoped that they would never witness such a ruinous fire incident again- an inferno that destroyed their belongings and disrupted their education.
In a deeply emotional letter addressed to the students and their parents, the school’s head, Isaac Shalegh, a Reverend Father, struggled to fix the right words in the right place to express his sorrow and distress.
In his letter on the school’s social media handle, Shalegh apologised for the failure to provide the peace and stability the students deserved, despite redoubled efforts in that regard.
The letter read “My beloved daughters and esteemed parents/guardians, it is with a broken heart and a profound sense of remorse that I write this letter to you. I write not merely as the head of an institution but as a father whose heart aches for his children. Today, I humbly appeal for your forgiveness. I am sorry that, despite my best efforts, I could not give you the peace and stability you deserved.
“Recall that when the first fire incident occurred, I assured you that better days would come. Indeed, some good things followed, although we lost many valuable possessions that could never be recovered.
“Then came the second fire. Once again, I assured you that better things would come. You believed me, and so did your parents and guardians. Together, we found the courage to move on. I saw your resilience and your willingness to carry on despite the painful circumstances.
“Barely two days later, the third fire occurred. At that point, I began to notice that your confidence in me was waning. When I assured you for the third time that better things would still come, your collective response broke my heart. You cried out, “No oooo! We no longer want better things!” All you wanted, you said, was your “poor but peaceful home.”
His account of the students’ reaction after the third fire captured the depth of their emotional exhaustion as according to him, the fourth incident eventually overwhelmed the remaining confidence of students and management alike.
Some students, he noted, had already been compelled to leave St. Winifred and continue their education in other institutions following the earlier incidents.
He lamented that their departure meant adjusting to unfamiliar environments, leaving friends behind and attempting to rebuild their academic lives far from the school they knew.
He also noted that parents and guardians, who had entrusted their daughters to the school with hopes of securing a sound education, were equally affected.
He said beyond the financial implications of replacing lost belongings and making alternative educational arrangements, they had to contend with the emotional burden of knowing that their children had repeatedly experienced frightening incidents in a place where they expected them to be protected.
According to Shalegh, the school management had engaged relevant stakeholders, including members of the host community, who assured them that the incidents would not recur.
They were also promised that the damaged buildings would be reconstructed within three months, ahead of the students’ return in September 2026. Believing these assurances, the management appealed to the school’s proprietor, the Bishop, to exercise patience while efforts to resolve the situation continued.
But when the students returned, the reality they encountered was different from what they had anticipated. The promised improvements had not provided the level of security and stability they needed, leaving the school community struggling.
The anxiety deepened on Friday, October 9, when students noticed what they considered suspicious circumstances suggesting a possible attempt to set one of the remaining hostel buildings on fire. Fr. Shalegh said he immediately contacted the relevant authorities and reached out to people he believed could intervene before the situation escalated.
The priest recalled watching the girls flee for safety, crying helplessly as the school community confronted the fourth incident. For him, the sight of the students running from danger was a painful reminder of how little his repeated assurances had done to restore their confidence.
Fr Shalegh said “That morning, I watched you flee for your safety, crying helplessly. Four times! Yes, four times, our school community had been thrown into the terror of fire incidents.
“I could no longer bear to look at you. The sight of your tears, and helplessness was unbearable. I felt as though my soul was leaving my body. I wept, and you wept. I watched you leave for home under immense pressure, without adequate preparation for the sudden journey. Some of you did not arrive home until around 11 p.m., leaving your parents and guardians anxiously waiting and wondering about your safety. That experience broke me in ways I may never fully explain.
“My beloved daughters, I am deeply sorry. To you, my dear students, and to your esteemed parents and guardians, I sincerely ask for your forgiveness. I am sorry that my assurances could not translate into the peace and security you deserved.”
The emotional account of the school head came days after the Catholic Diocese of Gboko announced the indefinite closure of several Church-owned institutions in Ihugh, citing repeated attacks, destruction of property and the failure of efforts to secure lasting peace.
In a pastoral letter and decree dated October 12, 2026, the Bishop of Gboko Diocese, Most Rev. William Avenya, ordered the closure of St. Winifred Secondary School, St. Winifred Nursery and Primary School, St. Thomas Hospital, including Salus Mind Care Center and its hospital chaplaincy, as well as St. Winifred Parish.
The Diocese identified the burning of the secondary school’s hostels on October 28, 2025, May 10 and 15, 2026, and October 11, 2026, as part of a wider pattern of incidents affecting Catholic institutions in the community.
The church also cited repeated burglaries at St. Winifred Parish, criminal incidents at St. Thomas Hospital and the hostility reportedly encountered by Reverend Sisters when the hospital reopened in June 2024.
Bishop Avenya, in a statement he co-signed with the Chancellor, Rev Fr Marcellinus Wende, said the diocese had pursued dialogue with the host community, traditional rulers, community elders and relevant government and security authorities in the hope of securing peace but the efforts had not produced the guarantees required to protect students, teachers, medical personnel, priests, religious sisters and other workers.
The bishop said the Church could not continue exposing those under its care to danger or investing resources in institutions where their safety could not be assured. He described the decision as painful but necessary, stressing that the withdrawal was not motivated by hatred or vengeance and that the possibility of returning remained open if genuine reconciliation, restitution and credible guarantees of safety were achieved.
Meanwhile , the community has come under heavy criticism over the closure of the institutions with many accusing parents and leaders of that community of looking the other way while such evil misconducts were being perpetrated.
Most of the residents, some old students, some Alter boys among others who spoke on condition of anonymity lamented the incidents, saying the affected students have been traumatized. They noted that their parents would now be left with no option but to struggle to find alternative arrangements for them to continue their education, after school fees have been paid while those who relied on St. Thomas Hospital for healthcare would also be forced to seek care elsewhere.
They also noted that workers also face uncertainty as the Diocese may make arrangements for their redeployment, reassignment and some may be left out.
A resident said “Members of Ihugh community have made history as the first Benue community who have found the Catholic Church. Hope they can now go to bed and sleep well?
While another resident described the incident as a “very traumatic experience,” another said the incident as an act of barbarism.
They called on the state government and the security agencies to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to book.
