Report: Gunmen attacked 1,799 students, 24 teachers between April 2014/January 2021

A factsheet by SB Morgan (SBM) Intelligence has revealed that a total of 1,823 victims which include 1,799 students and 24 teachers were attacked between April 2014 and January 2021. 

SBM Intelligence, a research organisation, compiles and analyses data about happenings in the country.

In the period reviewed in the factsheet, there were 28 incidents of school attacks in Nigeria; from the Chibok girls’ incident of April 4, 2014 in Borno to the Barkin Ladin attack of January 12, 2021, in Plateau state. 

SBM notes that out of the 28 incidents, 23 were perpetrated by armed bandits, three by insurgents and two by gunmen. 

NORTH-WEST — THE HOTBED OF ATTACKS

The factsheet also revealed that out of the four geopolitical zones facing attacks on education, the north-western part of the country is the most impacted. 

SBM Intelligence said there were attacks on students in four geopolitical zones of the country — north-west, north-east, north-central and south-east. 

The research organisation said the north-west accounted for the highest number of student victims — with 1,166 students attacked between the years on review — and with 386 and 240 students attacked in the north-west and the north-central respectively. 

The report said attacks on teachers in the country only happened in the north-west and the north-central — with 14 teachers attacked in the north-west and 10 in the north-central. 

According to SBM Intelligence, between April 2014 and January 2021, most of the attacks on academic institutions were on secondary schools which witnessed a total of 1,704 attacks on students and 24 on teachers. 

KATSINA LEADS WITH HIGHEST ATTACKS ON STUDENTS

The organisation said Katsina, with 439 incidents, had the highest number of student victims followed by Zamfara (417) while the FCT had the least — two victims. 

According to SBM Intelligence, Borno (276), Niger (232), Kaduna (210), Yobe (110), Kebbi (100), Abia (7), Plateau (4) and Nasarawa (2). 

The research firm said the highest number of attacks on teachers was recorded in Kebbi (5) and  Zamfara, Yobe, Niger, Kaduna and the FCT which had four incidents each. 

SBM Intelligence revealed that students in single-sex institutions witnessed more attacks than those in co-educational schools.