For decades, Nigerians have regarded education as the most reliable pathway to social mobility, national development and economic prosperity. Parents endured hardship, sold assets and made sacrifices to ensure their children attended school. Today, however, a disturbing reality is emerging across our nation. Many parents are no longer worried primarily about school fees or academic performance, but are worried about whether their children will return home alive.
The growing wave of attacks on schools and the kidnapping of students and pupils has placed Nigeria’s educational sector under unprecedented pressure. Recent data released in May 2026 by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) paints an ugly picture. Between April 2014 and May 2026, at least 26 schools were attacked across our nation, while 2,416 students and pupils were abducted. Behind these statistics are shattered families, traumatised communities and thousands of children whose education has been disrupted, perhaps permanently.
What was once seen as a security challenge largely confined to parts of the north has now evolved into a national crisis. School kidnappings and attacks are no longer viewed as isolated incidents but as symptoms of a broader breakdown in security. The cancer is spreading from one state to another, creating an atmosphere of fear that threatens the very foundation of learning.
