Bunkpurugu MP Raises Alarm Over Humanitarian Crisis as Conflicts Drive Away Teachers and Health Workers
Member of Parliament for Bunkpurugu, Abednego Bandim, has issued a stark warning about a worsening humanitarian crisis in his constituency, driven by ongoing local conflicts that have triggered a mass exodus of essential service providers, leading to school closures and collapsed healthcare services.
Addressing members of the Bimoba Students Union, the MP highlighted the reluctance of teachers, nurses, and even National Service Personnel to accept or stay in postings to the area due to persistent insecurity from inter-clan and chieftaincy disputes.
Mr. Bandim painted a grim picture of the education sector, revealing severe staffing shortages across basic schools. “You see a school from primary 1 to 6 in JHS 1, 2, 3, and there is only one teacher. Some of the schools have closed down because of conflicts,” he disclosed.
He explained that newly posted staff often seek transfers within one or two years, perpetuating a cycle of understaffing. “When they post a teacher to Bunkpurugu, they don’t want to go. Even National Service, for one year, they don’t accept posting. When they accept, it’s because they are desperate to get jobs. But once they get the job and they go there, within a year or two, they seek transfers.”
The MP linked these challenges directly to the insecurity, warning that the flight of professionals is deepening poverty, marginalization, and educational inequality in the region.
To address the crisis, Mr. Bandim revealed that he recently petitioned the Minister of Education to implement localized teacher recruitment. “I met with the Minister for Education, I think last week, and put before him a proposal to consider recruiting teachers from the constituency… because of conflicts, people from other parts of the country don’t like accepting postings to Bunkpurugu,” he stated.
The proposal advocates for hiring indigenous professionals who are more likely to remain committed despite security issues, aligning with calls for decentralized recruitment to better match staff with local contexts.
Adding to the constituency’s challenges, Laar Yoobaar, Secretary to the EC Chair of the Bimoba Students Union, appealed to the MP—who chairs Parliament’s Communication and Information Committee—to intervene in the severe lack of reliable mobile network and internet connectivity.
“We have been suffering from network challenges. And as someone who is the chairman of the communication committee, I think you can leverage your authority to get some of the network to mitigate the challenges that we are facing,” he urged.
Students say the poor connectivity hampers academic research, online learning, and exam preparation, placing them at a significant disadvantage.
The dual crises of insecurity and digital exclusion are seen as major threats to the future of Bunkpurugu’s youth, underscoring the urgent need for targeted interventions
