Campus insecurity: 28 students killed, 78 kidnapped in 20 months

At least 28 undergraduate students have been killed and 78 others kidnapped from various tertiary institutions across Nigeria in the last 20 months, data from reported cases in the media have shown.

The data, which is specific to attacks on students within the campuses, does not include attacks or kidnappings of students on highways, such as the recent abduction of 20 medical and dental students of the universities of Maiduguri and Jos who were abducted in Benue State but later released.

A breakdown of the data collected between January 2023 and August 2024 revealed that those killed were victims of various violent crimes, including cultism, rape, and robbery, among others, while on campus.

The data showed that incidents of stabbings and students being beaten to death were predominantly recorded in tertiary institutions in the north, such as in Gombe, Nasarawa, and Bauchi states; only Kwara recorded cult-related incidents in the north. The data also showed that tertiary institutions in the southern part of the region have prevalent cases of cult-related attacks leading to deaths in states such as Edo, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, and Abia states.

• ‘86 million Nigerians living in multidimensional poverty’
• Bello, Abdulsalami, Danjuma, Tinubu, Okonjo-Iweala in the news

Killings more prevalent in south while abductions high in north

Findings revealed that out of the 28 students killed, 20 were killed within campuses in the southern part of the country, while the remaining eight were killed within campuses in northern Nigeria.

The South-south and South-west have the highest records of students killed on campuses, with 12 killed in the South-south, out of which 10 of them died as a result of cult-related clashes while one was stabbed and another raped to death.

In tertiary institutions within the South-west, six students lost their lives, out of which four died as a result of cult-related clashes, while one was beaten to death and another killed and buried in a shallow grave.

However, in the South-east, the data compiled showed only two deaths were recorded, out of which one died as a result of a cult-related clash and the other went missing, and her remains later found on campus.

In the northern part of the country, the North-central recorded the highest number of student deaths on campuses, with six within the period under review. Out of the six, four were killed in cult-related attacks, and the other two by kidnappers. In the North-east, two students were stabbed to death as a result of phone theft. There was no record of a campus-related death in the North-west.

Data from reported cases showed that out of the 78 kidnapped students, the North-central region recorded the highest, with 42 students kidnapped from various tertiary institutions. The breakdown showed that 32 students were kidnapped from a tertiary institution in Kogi State, seven were kidnapped in Plateau State, two were abducted from a university in Benue State, and one from a university in Ilorin, Kwara State.

The North-west recorded 29 kidnapping incidents, with 24 in Zamfara State, and five in Katsina State. The South-east had four kidnapping cases all within Enugu State. South-south recorded three kidnapping cases in Cross River State while campuses from the South-west and North-east did not record any kidnapping incident within the period under review.

NANS demand action from government

The President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Comrade Lucky Emonefe, has condemned attacks on students across Nigerian campuses.

Emonefe also revealed that the union met with the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, on the rising cases of attacks and kidnapping of students and that plans are underway to set up a quick response security team solely for campus security.

“As an umbrella body, such incidents are unacceptable to us, and we will not tolerate further attacks and killing of students in any form, especially the issue of kidnapping of students who came to learn.

“In every campus, there should be checkpoints to forestall these attacks. We don’t want a situation where we will be forced to come out and protest massively, but if things persist, we will have to engage in confrontation, which is our last option because we have consulted and consolidated our concerns,” he said.

The leader of the student union body urged governments at all levels to step up in the areas of security, especially “now that these enemies of the state have taken it to our campuses.”

Crimes undermining institutional integrity, students safety — Expert

A security expert and a member of a Switzerland-based security organization (ISO-SEC), Hafizu Ringim, outlined poor security infrastructure, economic factors, and group dynamics as factors driving criminality in many tertiary institutions, with both the northern and southern parts of the country experiencing unique security challenges.

“In the north, cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, phone snatching, and banditry have become increasingly common. In the south, cultism, rape, and gang violence remain significant threats to campus safety. These crimes undermine the academic integrity of these institutions and pose a significant threat to the safety and well-being of students, faculty, and staff,” he said.

He explained that while kidnapping of students in the northern part of Nigeria is tied to economic motives such as ransom, other groups use it as leverage to negotiate with the state or federal government to create fear and instability.

“In the southern part of Nigeria, the reasons for cultism, rape, and killings are peer pressure and group dynamics, where students may be coerced into joining cults or engaging in violent behavior due to peer pressure or the desire for acceptance and belonging,” he added.

Ringim said institutional failures as a result of inadequate campus security and ineffective law enforcement and prosecution of perpetrators have encouraged individuals to engage in criminal activities, creating an environment that fosters violence.

He noted that the implications of criminality in Nigerian tertiary institutions can translate to a decline in enrollment rates, particularly among vulnerable populations, thereby exacerbating existing educational inequalities and brain drain.

“To mitigate or salvage these attacks on students, a multi-faceted approach that involves multiple stakeholders, strategies, and technologies is required to improve on or off-campus safety. That can only be achieved by understanding the unique security challenges facing each tertiary institution in Nigeria and developing effective solutions to prevent and respond to security incidents,” he advised.

Inactive independent unionism escalating criminalities — Rights group

The National Coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Comrade Hassan Soweto on his part, blamed the dearth of active and independent student unionism in tertiary institutions for immensely escalating the rate of criminality among students over the years.

Soweto, while referencing how insurgency in the North-east has adversely impacted education, added that increased attacks on students are an indication of  weekend security structures, which have brought about a disregard for students’ welfare and safety.

“If the current attacks on students persist without socio-economic justice, there will be nothing like education in the next 10 years. You can’t have education and enlightenment without security structures in our institutions. This will not just worsen the situation, but it will also affect the country’s educational reputation,” he said.

Soweto warned that unless independent and active unionism is restored across various campuses and authorities address the socio-economic and security concerns, the safety of students cannot be guaranteed.