For many Nigerian parents, school safety begins with a simple question: Who is guarding the school?
But increasingly, that may be the wrong question.
A police officer at the gate can respond to a threat. A security guard can control access. A camera can capture an incident. But none of these, on their own, can guarantee that a child is safe in school.
School safety is far bigger than policing. It includes whether a school can detect a threat before it happens, whether a child knows where to report abuse, whether a teacher can recognise signs of distress, whether the building can withstand an emergency and whether parents, communities and authorities know what to do when something goes wrong.
That broader understanding is gaining ground in Nigeria’s education sector.
At the fourth Michael Alogba Olukoya yearly lecture and award series organised by the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Lagos State Wing, stakeholders from the education and security sectors argued that protecting schools requires a coordinated system involving governments, school administrators, teachers, parents, communities, security agencies and technology providers.
The message was clear: Nigeria cannot police its way to safe schools.
The danger is bigger than kidnapping
The country’s experience with attacks on schools has made physical security an urgent concern.
The 2014 abduction of 276 girls from Chibok, Borno State, became a defining moment in Nigeria’s struggle to protect children in school. More than a decade later, the threat has not disappeared.
UNICEF reported in 2024 that conflict-related violence over the previous decade had resulted in more than 1,680 children being abducted while at school and elsewhere, 180 children killed in attacks on schools, about 60 school staff kidnapped and 14 killed. More than 70 attacks on schools had also been recorded.
The problem is still evolving.
In November 2025, UNICEF reported the abduction of 25 girls from a government girls’ school in Kebbi State. Days later, scores of children and teachers were reportedly abducted from a secondary school in Niger State.
The consequences extend far beyond the children who are directly affected.
When a school is attacked, families become afraid. Attendance falls. Schools may close. Teachers may refuse postings to vulnerable areas. Communities lose confidence in the education system.
A UNICEF report on insecurity in Katsina, Zamfara and Niger states found that violence, banditry, abductions and communal conflicts were disrupting access to education and forcing communities to develop alternative ways of keeping learning alive.
And insecurity is only one part of the problem.
Inside schools, children can face bullying, physical violence, sexual abuse, cult-related activities, drug exposure, harassment and emotional distress. Outside the school gates, there are risks from road accidents, flooding, fire and other environmental hazards.
The Federal Ministry of Education’s Early Warning Handbook, published in 2025, identifies precisely these kinds of risks, including kidnapping, attacks, flooding, fire, accidents and mental-health concerns.
The implication is significant: a school does not become safe simply because a policeman is standing at the entrance.
Prevention must start before the emergency
At the NUT lecture in Lagos, police authorities acknowledged this shift.
Speaking on behalf of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Deputy Commissioner of Police Anthony Okonkwo said school safety could no longer be treated as the exclusive responsibility of security agencies.
The police’s proposed approach includes specialised school protection squads, intelligence gathering, risk assessment and community-oriented policing.
But the emphasis is increasingly on prevention.
That means identifying vulnerabilities before criminals exploit them.
Is the school fenced?
Who can enter the premises?
Are visitors properly identified?
Does the school have emergency contacts?
Can teachers quickly alert authorities?
Do students have confidential channels for reporting threats or abuse?
Have staff and students practised what to do during an emergency?
These questions may appear mundane. They can, however, determine whether a warning becomes a tragedy.
UNICEF’s Minimum Standards for Safe Schools monitoring report offers a sobering picture. Across 10 assessed states, only 37 per cent of schools had early-warning systems for threats such as attacks. Only 14 per cent had functioning, safe and accessible infrastructure.
Those figures suggest that the biggest weakness may not always be the absence of security personnel. It may be the absence of systems.
The teacher is part of the safety system
Teachers are often the adults closest to children for much of the day.
They may notice when a normally active pupil suddenly withdraws, when a child begins displaying aggressive behaviour or when a learner repeatedly arrives frightened or distressed.
Yet teachers are not always trained to recognise these signals or know what action to take.
This is why school safety must become part of teacher development.
The Federal Ministry of Education’s 2025 handbook encourages educators and other members of the school community to identify early warning signs and respond to threats affecting learners and teachers.
At the Lagos lecture, stakeholders similarly called for teachers to be trained to recognise warning signs relating to abuse, bullying, violence and emotional distress.
This changes the role of the teacher.
The teacher is not a security officer. But the teacher can become an important part of an early-warning network.
Children also need a voice
A safety system designed entirely around adults can miss problems children see first.
Students need safe and confidential ways to report bullying, abuse, threats and suspicious behaviour without fear of retaliation.
This is particularly important in cases involving abuse, where the person causing harm may be someone the child knows or trusts.
A school that encourages reporting, protects whistleblowers and responds appropriately can prevent problems from becoming crises.
That is why school safety must also involve counsellors, safeguarding officers, school-based management committees and clear reporting procedures.
UNICEF describes safe schools as a shared responsibility involving teachers, school-based management committees, parents, young people and communities.
A fence is useful. But a fence is not a safety policy.
Infrastructure remains important.
Schools need secure boundaries, lighting, controlled access, safe classrooms, functioning toilets, reliable water, emergency exits and facilities that can withstand environmental hazards.
But infrastructure must be connected to preparedness.
A school may have a fence and still have no emergency plan.
It may have CCTV and still have nobody monitoring it.
It may have a panic button and still have no clear response protocol.
It may conduct a fire drill once and never review what went wrong.
This is where the idea of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design becomes relevant. The approach recognises that the physical design and management of an environment can influence opportunities for crime.
For schools, that could mean better visibility, controlled entry points, appropriate lighting, clear movement routes and designs that reduce vulnerable spaces.
Technology can strengthen these systems, but it cannot replace them.
Digital attendance systems, surveillance cameras, emergency alerts and communication platforms can help schools know who is present and respond faster. But technology without trained personnel, reliable connectivity and clear procedures can create the illusion of preparedness rather than actual preparedness.
Communities cannot be left outside the school gate
In many Nigerian communities, the people who know a school best are not necessarily the people employed by it.
They include parents, traditional leaders, youth groups, transport workers and residents living around the school.
They may notice unusual movements or threats before a formal security structure does.
This makes community intelligence important.
The police proposal for school-community security committees reflects this reality: school safety cannot be sustained if the school is treated as an island surrounded by an indifferent community.
A community that sees the school as its own is more likely to protect it.
The cost of doing nothing is higher
The argument for a broader approach is ultimately an economic one as much as a security one.
Every school closure interrupts learning. Every frightened child who stops attending school loses valuable classroom time. Every teacher who leaves an unsafe environment weakens the education workforce.
UNICEF reported in 2024 that school attacks and insecurity had contributed to the closure of thousands of schools, with serious consequences for children’s learning and future opportunities.
In 2025, UNICEF’s humanitarian reporting again linked insecurity in north-western Nigeria to school closures, including following major abductions in Kebbi and Niger states.
The price is therefore not only measured in damaged buildings or ransom demands.
It is measured in lost learning, increased dropout, trauma, reduced confidence in schools and opportunities that children never get to pursue.
What should a safe Nigerian school look like?
It should certainly have appropriate security.
But it should also have a risk assessment.
It should know its vulnerabilities.
It should have trained staff.
It should have confidential reporting mechanisms.
It should have emergency response and evacuation plans.
It should conduct drills.
It should maintain communication with parents and security agencies.
It should involve its host community.
It should monitor and review incidents.
And, critically, children should know that adults will listen when they say something is wrong.
Nigeria already has a policy foundation for this. The country endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration in 2015, committing to measures aimed at protecting education from attack and ensuring the continuity of safe education during conflict.
The challenge is moving from commitments and policies to everyday practice.
The conversation around school safety therefore needs to move beyond the familiar image of a uniformed officer standing at a school gate.
The officer matters.
But so does the teacher who notices a warning sign.
The parent who communicates with the school.
The student who feels safe enough to report a threat.
The community member who shares credible information.
The administrator who conducts a vulnerability assessment.
The government that funds a fence, emergency plan and functioning infrastructure.
The technology provider whose system actually works.
And the policymaker who ensures that these pieces operate as one system.
Because the safest school is not necessarily the one with the most security personnel.
It is the one that can identify danger early, prevent harm where possible, respond quickly when necessary and protect children’s right to learn even when the threat is bigger than the school gate.
