As the number of attacks by insurgents surges, parents and teachers are pleading with the Borno State government to beef up security at schools to ensure the safety of students. 

As elementary schools in Borno State in Nigeria’s northeast, reopened for the third term, parents, teachers and security experts have called for greater security to ensure the safety of all pupils and students.

In recent months the number of attacks by insurgents in Nigeria’s northeast have surged.

Communities and military formations have come under heavy fire from members of the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād (JAS), more commonly referred to as Boko Haram, and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Security advisers have called on the Borno State government to put in place “all the necessary measures” to ensure the safety and security of students and teachers, as well as school structures and facilities, particularly in high-risk councils, such as the Dikwa and Damboa local government areas in the state.

Elementary schools in Borno State open for third term

“Primary and secondary schools successfully resumed for the third term on Monday, April 28. Pupils returned to their classes after almost three weeks of holidays. Lessons have already started, teachers are in position, ready and waiting, and the turnout of students was great,” Aja Baba Zanna, a schoolteacher in the Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno State, told Ndarason.

“For now everything is going well. There was a large turnout of students despite the recent surge in the number of attacks by insurgents.

“As teachers, we pledge to continue putting in great effort to ensure that our students get the best education.”

Usman Bukar, a schoolteacher in the Damboa Local Government Area told Ndarason: “Both male and female students have started returning to school as we resumed classes for the third term. Right now, the principal and the teachers are on the ground but, unfortunately, the turnout of the students in this area was very low. This is not a great surprise. Often when school lessons resume after the holidays, the first week is very slow. By next week, we expect many more students in classes.

“I urge parents and guardians to send their children to schools since the holidays are over and lessons have already started.”

Security measures to safeguard students, teachers and schools

Kachalla Grema Kyari, a security analyst based in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, told Ndarason: “Most of the elementary schools have officially resumed after the holidays.

“It is a difficult time for people in the state because of the recent surge in the number of attacks by insurgents on communities and military formations. The security situation has definitely worsened. It is quite alarming.

“Even the state governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Ibn Umar Garba Al Amin El-Kanemi, as well as other traditional rulers and stakeholders have expressed concerns over rising insecurity in the state.

“They are calling for decisive action to be taken against the insurgents.

“No one wants to see another incident of violence – including abduction – against our students. Although the abduction of 276 Chibok schoolgirls took place 15 years ago, people still remember it. And some of the girls are still missing. The abduction caused a global outcry.

“In February 2018, Boko Haram abducted 110 girls from a school in Dapchi, in Nigeria’s Yobe State. The recent surge in attacks means that the safety and security of our students and the schools they attend must be guaranteed.

“Even though the Borno State government introduced the Safe School Initiatives in 2014 in the aftermath of the Chibok abductions, its implementation has been bogged down by bureaucratic roadblocks and allegations of corruption. Some northern states have closed hundreds of schools indefinitely, disrupting the education of thousands – if not millions – of children.

“The Borno State commissioner of education, Lawan Abba Wakilbe, and other relevant stakeholders should sit down and brainstorm on how to monitor and inspect all schools across the state to assess the security situation, particularly in high-risk areas, and to pave the way for ensuring the safety and security of students, teachers as well as all school structures and facilities.”

Deaths and displacements

The United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) said the “Boko Haram insurgency” had resulted in the killing of 2,300 teachers; 19,000 had been displaced across the northeast since it began in 2009.

UNICEF said that in addition to devastating malnutrition, violence and outbreaks of cholera and other diseases, attacks on schools were in danger of creating a lost generation of children, threatening their future.

As of 2017, an estimated three million children needed emergency education support so that they could return to school and get a decent education.

The Borno State government, in collaboration with other development partners, is continuing to build schools destroyed by the insurgents.

A spokesperson said the government was doing its best to enrol millions of displaced children into schools across the state.

Lack of political will

In a 2024 report, Amnesty International said that since the Chibok abduction in 2014, the organisation had documented at least 17 cases of mass abductions in which at least 1,700 children were seized from their schools by gunmen and taken into the bush, where, in many cases, they were subjected to serious abuse, including rape.

“It is shocking that since the Chibok abduction, the Nigerian authorities have not learned any lessons or taken effective measures to prevent attacks on schools. The number of abductions that have taken place since 2014, and the fact that hundreds of children are still in the custody of gunmen, shows the lack of political will by the authorities to address the problem,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

“The abduction of children and attacks on schools may amount to war crimes. It is the duty of the Nigerian authorities to end these attacks and bring the suspected perpetrators to justice through fair trials and ensure access of victims to justice and effective remedies. Reality shows the government has neither the will nor the commitment to end these attacks on children and their schools.”

SHETTIMA LAWAN MONGUNO