Amnesty Int’l: Northern children at risk as over 20,000 schools shut over insecurity

Amnesty International has warned that a generation of children in northern Nigeria is at risk of losing access to education as widespread insecurity forces the closure of 20,468 schools across seven states following last week’s mass abduction in Niger State.

The rights group said Nigerian authorities have repeatedly failed to protect pupils and teachers from attacks, documenting at least 15 mass school abductions since the 2014 Chibok kidnapping.

“What we are witnessing is an assault on childhood,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

“Authorities are grossly failing in their constitutional and human rights obligations to protect lives.”

Amnesty noted that lack of accountability persists, as promises to investigate abductions and prosecute perpetrators are rarely fulfilled.

It cited past cases — including Chibok, Dapchi and the recent abduction of 25 schoolgirls in Kebbi — where security lapses and ignored intelligence enabled attacks.

The organisation said the ongoing school closures — in Bauchi, Benue, Kwara, Plateau, Niger, Yobe and Katsina — may protect students in the short term but have long-term consequences.

Many schools closed since 2021 were never reopened, leaving thousands of children without alternative learning options.

With insecurity worsening, Amnesty warned that more children are being forced into child labour or early marriage.

It urged authorities to invest in safer schooling, reopen closed schools, end attacks on communities, and conduct transparent investigations into all mass abductions since 2014.

“Nigerian authorities must use the maximum available resources to ensure children stay in school and access their right to education,” Sanusi said.