Combating School Abductions in Nigeria: Pathways to Safe Learning and Sustainable Educational Development

The increasing incidence of school abductions in Nigeria has transformed educational institutions from centres of learning into vulnerable spaces where insecurity threatens educational access, continuity and development. Against this backdrop, this paper examined combating school abductions in Nigeria as a pathway to safe learning and sustainable educational development. Specifically, the paper investigated the prevalence and patterns of school abductions in Nigeria, examined the major causes and drivers of the phenomenon, assessed the necessity of combating school abductions by analysing their effects on learners, teachers, school administration and educational development, and explored effective strategies for enhancing school safety and promoting sustainable educational development. The paper was anchored on Routine Activity Theory and Human Security Theory, which provided explanatory frameworks for understanding the vulnerabilities of educational institutions and the developmental implications of insecurity. The paper adopted the analytical review method through a critical examination and synthesis of relevant scholarly literature, empirical studies and documented evidence on school abductions and educational security in Nigeria. Findings revealed that school abductions have become a recurring security challenge driven by weak security infrastructure, inadequate intelligence systems, socio-economic deprivation, the profitability of kidnapping and institutional weaknesses. The paper further found that school abductions contribute to school closures, declining enrolment, psychological trauma, learning disruptions, teacher shortages and weakened educational outcomes. The paper concluded that sustainable educational development cannot be achieved where schools remain vulnerable to violent attacks and insecurity. It therefore recommended the strengthening of school security infrastructure, the institutionalisation of community-based intelligence and early warning mechanisms, and the implementation of socio-economic and educational resilience programmes aimed at addressing the underlying conditions that facilitate school abductions and educational disruptions.