When Learning Becomes Dangerous

Education is the bedrock of a prosperous society. However, reports on attacks on schools have continually made headlines. Many countries face security challenges that violate student’s rights to education and protection. According to Education Under Attack 2014, a report published by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA), non-state armed groups targeted students, teachers, schools, and other educational facilities in at least 70 countries worldwide between 2009 and 2013, with 30 countries experiencing a significant pattern of attack. The dynamics are worse in fragile states or those experiencing armed conflicts.

In recent years, Nigeria has been afflicted by a troubling trend: a surge of school attacks, leaving a trail of humanitarian tragedies and disrupted education for thousands of students. Incidents such as kidnappings have gained popularity and are crucial security concerns. While many have been victims of these incidents, relatively few have escaped death, injuries or captivity during such attacks. Under the current conditions, the safety and security of school administrators, teachers, students, and the local community where the schools are located are no longer guaranteed, particularly in the North West and North Central zones, where jihadist terrorists and bandits are active. These attacks have significantly impacted the country’s educational system and the prospects of its youth.

The foremost record of large-scale school attacks, which gained local and international attention, was the abduction of 276 Chibok girls in 2014. However, the attacks on schools and learning facilities in Nigeria have become the go-to option for factions and criminal forces such as gunmen, bandits, secessionist agitators and kidnappers. According to a report, Katsina, Zamfara, Niger, Kaduna, and Kebbi state have recorded the most since school abductions gained prominence in 2014. Attacks on schools have continued into 2024. At the beginning of the year 2024, on January 30, gunmen abducted six pupils and three teachers of a private school in Emure, headquarters of Emure Local Government Area of Ekiti State. Also, on March 8, gunmen abducted about 287 children in Kaduna state from the Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary and Junior Secondary School, Kuriga, in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Some days later, another 15 students were kidnapped from a school in Gada, Sokoto.

Violent attacks on schools have also occurred in the South East. The sit-at-home orders by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have created an avenue where enforcers assault students and teachers. A report from HumAngle revealed one of such attacks by the sit-at-home enforcers in Enugu who subjected underage children to inhumane treatment. Occurrences in other regions, such as the North Central region, can be seen from the kidnap of four students of the Nasarawa State University on October 10, 2023. The resort to attacks on schools by gunmen and bandits can be linked to grinding poverty levels. Nigeria is increasingly facing a dire economic situation.

There have also been impacts from attacks. For instance, attacks on schools have disrupted communities and families, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation in conflict-affected areas. The targeting of schools disrupts educational activities, depriving children of their right to learn and jeopardising Nigeria’s future development prospects. Many schools remain closed or operate under constant threat, impeding access to quality education for millions of children. The trauma inflicted on students, teachers, and communities by attacks on schools is immense, leaving lasting psychological scars and undermining social cohesion. According to the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, attacks on schools are traumatic for children and sometimes lead affected families to withdraw them from education entirely. Attacks on schools result in significant financial losses at the individual and societal levels, as families are forced to forego livelihood opportunities and communities suffer the long-term consequences of disrupted education.

As a response to the April 2014 abduction of the Chibok school girls, the Safe Schools Initiative was launched by the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, alongside the Nigerian Global Business Coalition for Education and private sector leaders at the World Economic Forum Africa. The plan was to begin by building community security groups to promote safe zones for education, consisting of teachers, parents, police, community leaders and young people. In the longer term, the programme would focus on bolstering the safety of schools – providing school guards and police in partnership with Nigerian authorities, training staff as school safety officers, and providing counsellors to schools at risk of attack.

Based on the gravitas of insecurity, security agencies must supplement efforts by adopting conscious safety plans in schools’ physical structural and administrative planning. This could be through the fortification of structures and constant awareness of emergency action in situations of attacks. Guidance in formulating the security plan should be sought from the local and law enforcement authorities. Also, as attacks on schools persist, there is a pressing need to explore new avenues for safer schools. Developing a comprehensive database to support the Safe Schools Initiative in Nigeria could provide numerous benefits and address critical issues such as resource optimisation, coordination and collaboration. There is also a need to increase security efforts in Nigeria. The Nigerian government must re-establish its authority and monopoly of the instrument of violence. Effective securitisation countrywide will reduce the likelihood of school abductions.