Education in rural communities of Benue state are in dire straits following over eight years of attacks on schools with frequent kidnapping of children, thereby causing a surge in out-of-school drop-out.
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) 2020 Model Estimates on out-of-school children, published in 2022 states that almost 20 million Nigerian children are out of school.
The data also shows that the secondary school out-of-school population has grown by 61 per cent from 6.3 million to 10 million since 2010, while the number of primary school-aged children who are not in school also increased by 50 per cent, from 6.4 million to 9.7 million since 2010.
Globally, this puts Nigeria as the country with the third highest number of children deprived of education, only behind India and Pakistan. One of the biggest factors responsible for this humanitarian disaster is insecurity, according to UNICEF. In most of the places affected by insecurity, particularly Guma, the communities have been deserted and schools remain closed, thereby putting the children’s primary and secondary education on hold.
Lingering crises
The state of insecurity in Benue has grown increasingly precarious over the last eight years.
Records from the state indicate that over 5,000 deaths were attributed solely to attacks by herdsmen during the administration of the former Governor Samuel Ortom as recorded in the state death register between 2015 and March 2023 aside millions worth of property burnt, thousands of people injured and a mass exodus of people from their homes. For over eight years, the communities have continued to experience series of attacks and could only hope they make it beyond the present day.
The official data by the state government might not have captured the extent of the damage (death) suffered by the state as there are some cases of insecurity incidents unreported.
According to the state government, attacks by herders led to the death of 1,177 and 809 people in 2015 and 2016, respectively, while 43 and 440 people were killed in 2017 and 2018. Also, the state stated that it recorded 174 deaths from herdsmen attacks in 2019, 88 in 2020, 2,131 in 2021, 172 deaths in 2022 and 104 since January 2023.
Of the 23 LGA areas in the state, 18 LGAs, including Guma LGA, were affected by insecurity and suffered continuous attacks from state and non-state actors.
Although the attacks can be traced to open grazing and crisis between herdsmen and farmers, communal clashes and criminal activities also contribute to the number of deaths and displacements recorded.
The number has increased since March 2023 following the presidential election, as attackers have continued to cause more harm. In April last year, at least 95 persons were killed during attacks on various LGAs within the state, including Otukpo and Guma, over a three-day period.
For instance, Tsokase James, 52, is one of the thousands of people who have suffered the brunt of insecurity in his town. His house was burnt, and he had to run through the middle of the night to get to the internally displaced persons camp to hide his head.
He said, “In 2014, on the 23rd of June, our community and school at LGEA Primary School Yogbo were attacked by herdsmen. That was the beginning of our problem and since then, it had been incessant attacks that made the people flee for safety.”
When asked about how insecurity impacts the lives of his children, he said, “Generally, the condition of these children cannot be described any better. Living at the IDP camp is demoralising and one cannot project any form of confidence. In fact, facing challenges of money, food, and shelter are the basic needs of life and the greatest challenges that they are facing, not to talk of education.”
Aborted dreams, shattered aspirations
A young man, Tehemba Raphael (17) has been forced out of school for over a period of three years due to insecurity. He harboured the dreams of becoming either a medical practitioner or a lawyer, but those aspirations were shattered in 2020 when terrorists attacked his village, Agankasi, killed his loved ones, burnt his house and destroyed his family’s properties. Since then, he has been in the IDP camp and had to relinquish the hope of furthering his education over what he described as lack of finances.
Raphael was in Junior Secondary School when the suspected militant herdsmen attacked his village. Ever since then, he could not afford his school fees.
“Fulani herdsmen attack brought us to the camp. The attack has affected my educational journey because sometimes my parents could not afford my school fees. For that I have been dropped out of school,” he said.
Even though he doubted if his dream could be resurrected, Raphael still appealed to the government to find a lasting solution to those attacks and facilitate their home return to enable him resume his education.
Just like Raphael, Cynthia Jato, another child, has been forced out of school for over a period of three years due to insecurity when terrorists attacked her village bordering Nasarawa state.
“It was the farming crisis that brought me here (IDP camp). The insecurity affects my education so well because my parents can no longer afford my school fees, thereby leaving me out of school for a long time,” she noted.
The exodus from their homes in pursuit of safety has not brought any noticeable changes in the livelihoods of numerous individuals within these areas. Amidst seeking refuge, many continue to grapple with dire challenges, facing not only the trauma of displacement but also struggling to sustain their daily lives.
In her own case although her children are not out of school, but 65-year-old Mama Kwaghkunda Tsekaa explained that insecurity in Guma LGA affected the overall education and well-being of their children, citing poor environment, poverty and fear of attacks in the IDP centre.
“So bad that we never imagined the gravity. We lost our homes, farmlands and property and even lost people in our neighbourhood to herdsmen attacks. Another striking thing is the level of poverty experienced now than before. Because we cannot effectively feed ourselves, we depend on humanitarian aid for survival.
“It greatly affected especially my small boys. I have grown up children that had even gone to higher institutions while others are here to settle at other places, but we cannot doubt the fact that the crisis has really affected the overall education and well-being of our children,” Tsekaa said.
Over 50 schools closed; teachers not safe
While it is more difficult to independently place the actual figure of the number of schools affected in Benue state where armed men have continued to launch their attacks, it was gathered from Guma LGEA Secretariat at Gbajimba that over 50 schools have been closed due to insecurity.
Most of those schools which cut across the 10 council wards are located in deserted villages and towns with a significant number of the schools being burnt by the bandits while a number of them have been turned into an IDP camp.
Also, it was gathered that over 15 teachers lost their lives during the attacks on some of those villages in Guma, prompting many other teachers to transfer their services to the major city for safety.
The implications are glaring. In Inudu LGEA primary school, for instance, it was discovered that bushes had overgrown the surroundings of the three blocks of classrooms with no signs of use for a considerable period of time.
Findings revealed that under the zonal intervention projects, UBEC had engaged Ultimate Civil Design Consult Nigeria Limited to construct a block comprising two classrooms for the school. Despite the completion of this construction, the classrooms have remained unused due to desertation.
Same with Tsei Dei LGEA and Mbakuyor LGEA
Education secretary of Guma LGEA at Gbajimba, Alaaga Genger, decried that over 90 per cent of schools in the area are not functional as a result of insecurity and lack of teachers who have transferred their services to major towns in the state for safety.
According to him, the whole wing of educational activities in Guma has been taking refuge at the LGEA Central Primary School and UBE Secondary School, both in Gbajimba, adding that parents are not comfortable leaving their wards to go to places alone or even staying alone at home by themselves.
Some of the affected schools as listed by the LGEA secretary are, LGEA primary schools Gbayange, Tse-gwa, Apera, Ormegha, Tsokuna, Mbabegha, Agbaka, Dam Awa, Gbajimba, Iortyom, Usoughul, Tsekereke, Yogbo, Igbenke, Ingbian, Tugudu, Tsegar, Gberkon, Tse-avine, Kula Yemen, Magum, Makondu, Amah, Asamgabaa, Tarma, Gwa Adudu, Aninge, Bua Dyu, Anusu, Igyorlugh, Akeja, Adai, Ali-Agudu, Orkpe and Akaakuma. Others are Junior secondary school Torkula, UBE Tyulen and RCM primary school Uhembe.
