Key Points

• Internal security collapse fuels campus abductions and heightens fear among vulnerable students.

• Students demand stronger protection nationwide to curb escalating attacks on schools.

• Authorities face pressure over rising kidnappings as public confidence continues dropping.

The largest student group in Nigeria says that the country’s internal security system has “collapsed in function and purpose,” making schools more vulnerable to violent attacks. The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) said that the government is not doing its most basic job: keeping people safe and keeping schools safe.

Olushola Oladoja, the president of NANS, said that things have gotten worse even though the Safe School Initiative has been getting money for years. He called the program “largely cosmetic.” In a statement released on Wednesday, Oladoja said that the program has become a symbol of the state’s failure to keep its promises, even as kidnappings and armed raids on campuses become more common.

Ten years of failures and repeated tragedy

Oladoja said that Nigeria has been in “unbroken grief” for eleven years, with mass kidnappings, destroyed schools, and families who don’t know what happened. He said that too many schools have been taken over because of a lack of coordination, intelligence gaps, and a pattern of complacency among leaders. The union said that high-ranking police officers and security chiefs had let a “broad internal security collapse” happen, which has made it easier for criminal groups to attack again and again.

He said that the country needs to stop “rewarding incompetence” because security agencies have not been able to stop attacks or protect weak communities. He says that the failures have made the school a dangerous place where students don’t know if they will be able to go home safely after class.

Concerns about military withdrawals and threats from within

Oladoja said he was worried about possible internal sabotage because of the recent attack in Kebbi State. He said that terrorists attacked the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga just a few minutes after news broke that soldiers had left the area. He told the Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff, National Security Adviser, and Service Chiefs to set up a high-level investigation to look into possible insider cooperation, command failures, and the pattern of troops leaving before major attacks.

Students are asking for protection, which could lead to unrest across the country

NANS said that students all over the country are calling for accountability and a real plan to make schools safer, which includes completely changing the Safe School Initiative. Oladoja said that if people don’t act, there could be a national wave of civil disobedience, from peaceful mass protests to highway blockades. “We can’t just stand by while terrorists destroy what’s left of our education system,” he said. “The union is ready for talks or mass action if necessary.”

There has been another rise in school attacks in the northern states. At least 24 schoolgirls were taken hostage and a vice-principal was killed in a raid in Kebbi on Monday. A few days later, hundreds were taken hostage in Niger State, but some managed to get away.