Amnesty: Northern Schools Are Now Death Traps for Children

Amnesty International has issued a scathing indictment of the Nigerian government, accusing authorities of a catastrophic failure to protect children in northern states following a fresh wave of mass abductions that saw over 230 students kidnapped this week alone in Kebbi and Niger States. The human rights organization asserts that schools in the North are no longer safe havens but rather high-risk zones.

According to Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, the recent kidnappings provide stark evidence that the government remains “unable to stop repeated attacks on schools.” These persistent assaults have already forced the indefinite closure of hundreds of educational institutions and severely disrupted the education of thousands of children across states like Katsina and Plateau.

“The Nigerian authorities are failing children,” Sanusi stated emphatically. He noted that school children in parts of northern Nigeria now live under the constant threat of death or abduction. Highlighting the scale of the crisis, he reminded the public that more than 780 children were kidnapped in 2021 from schools and religious centers, with some tragic raids resulting in fatalities. The director concluded that the uninterrupted pattern of abductions proves that authorities have “never cared to learn any lessons from such previous incidents.”

The group’s findings confirm that the psychological and material consequences of the insecurity are profound. Teachers in Zamfara, Katsina, and Niger have reported a devastating sharp drop in school attendance since 2021, as fear and trauma prevent children from returning to the classroom. Even more alarmingly, Amnesty International documented instances where numerous young girls are being withdrawn from school completely and married off by desperate families who fear their daughters could become targets for armed kidnappers.

Sanusi warned that the future for thousands of children in northern Nigeria “remains bleak,” emphasizing that hundreds of schools have been closed indefinitely due to the escalating insecurity. The director expressed deep concern that the psychological trauma of witnessing violent attacks or living in captivity may cause “hundreds of children [to] entirely abandon education.”

Amnesty International stressed that these deliberate attacks on educational institutions come with “major and far-reaching” consequences for the nation’s future stability and development. The organization underscored Nigeria’s non-negotiable responsibility under international law to protect all children and ensure that killings, intimidation, and abductions do not cripple the school system.

“There is a deliberate attack on children by armed groups. Using children as shields or bargaining chips is unacceptable and must stop,” Sanusi stated. He urged the Nigerian government to escalate the gravity of its response, calling for the attacks to be investigated and treated as potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Concluding his passionate appeal, Sanusi declared, “No child should go through what children are going through now in northern Nigeria. Education should not be a matter of life and death for anyone. Nigeria is failing children once again in a horrifying manner.” Amnesty International’s core demand is for the government to urgently strengthen security protocols around schools and ensure that all perpetrators of these heinous acts are swiftly arrested and subjected to fair and comprehensive judicial prosecution.