Amid a surge of attacks on schools across Nigeria, experts have raised the alarm over the psychological toll on students, warning that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could become a lasting consequence.
They have also expressed deep concern over the rising number of children staying out of school, a trend that threatens both education and the future of affected communities.
Recently, there have been renewed attacks on schools, resulting in the kidnapping of children, even though the government has made efforts to rescue some of them.
Speaking in an interview with LEADERSHIP, a psychologist, Dr Abiodun Ogunola, warned that attacks on schools, often rooted in hostility towards Western-style education, discourage students and reduce their interest in learning.
He said such incidents can lead to PTSD, causing anxiety and depression. He repeated reliving of traumatic events, while emphasising the need for psychological counselling and therapy to reassure students that these attacks do not define their future.
According to him, schools and communities must provide genuinely effective safety measures, and professional support should be offered if signs of truancy, withdrawal, or social disengagement appear, as unresolved trauma can have long-term emotional impacts.
He described the situation as quite unfortunate, noting that the attacks on educational institutions reflect an underlying resentment towards the advancement of knowledge, particularly what is referred to as Western education.
The Scholar warned that school closures not only discourage students but can also diminish their interest in learning, emphasising the importance of psychological counselling and therapy for students, reassuring them that past attacks should not define their present or future.
"It is quite unfortunate that these attacks are happening. The undertone of these attacks on educational institutions is the grievance being nurtured against the advancement of knowledge, particularly what can be referred to as Western education.
"What these closures then do is that they bring discouragement and loss of interest in going to school and attaining education as desired and expected. The students will no longer have the desired level of interest in education due to fear of future attacks and uncertainty about their future.
"There will also be incidences of PTSD where the students will suffer from panic attacks and trauma, having to relive the experiences in their minds over and over again, thus suffering from severe anxiety and depression. There could be some form of psychological counselling and therapy sessions for the students, reassuring them that what happened should not define both their present and future.
"There should be assurances and reassurances that their schools and communities are now safe for learning and habitation. Professional counsellors or psychologists should also be made available when they notice signs of truancy, absenteeism, or social withdrawal, that is, withdrawal from class activities and other social interactions.
"Safety and security should not just be seen as provided; they must be effective. Effective in deterring future occurrences, because those children carry the emotional scars with them both immediately and in the future, and this can trigger panic attacks if similar situations occur," he added.
Also speaking in an interview, a Nigerian academic and public policy specialist, Humphrey Ukeaja, warns that ongoing school closures in Nigeria will worsen the already alarming rate of out-of-school children.
He said the prolonged closures reduce students' enthusiasm for learning, lower productivity, currently estimated at 36 per cent by the World Bank, and may lead to long-term social issues, such as an increase in child marriage, particularly for girls in Northern Nigeria.
"From my professional perspective, the interventions or supports that can be solution-driven for such situations are to look at the capacity of teachers to identify trauma. The teachers need to determine what trauma looks like.
Their capacity needs to be trained around understanding when their students are in a traumatic situation due to the impact of insurgents attacking their schools or those who have been kidnapped previously.
"So you need to look out for those triggers, you need to look out for those traumatic signals in the child. Additionally, I would recommend that when students return to school, if the schools are open, the first two to four weeks should be dedicated to social-emotional learning. This will also open up an avenue for them to speak and be heard," he said.
Ukeaja also highlighted the broader social and economic impacts of school closures, stating that families lose trust in the state's ability to provide security, and local communities face economic setbacks as shops, markets, and transport services that rely on school activities suffer losses.
According to him, boarding school operations and related services are particularly affected, creating a ripple effect on the community's economy.
To address these challenges, Ukeaja recommends training teachers to identify and respond to signs of trauma in students. He suggests that when schools reopen, the first two to four weeks should focus on social-emotional learning to help students process their experiences and express their feelings.
He further calls for proactive early-warning systems to prevent attacks on schools and stresses the importance of reintegrating returning students without stigmatisation.
"Already, we have an alarming rate of out-of-school children in Nigeria, which led to the creation of a new commission for out-of-school children in Nigeria. "So what's this current scenario of school closure going to cost us?
"That is going to become a multiplier event that will lead to a further increase in out-of-school children, because the phobia and the enthusiasm to return to study will be diminishing and dwindling. So that is one. On the other hand, the World Bank has already pegged our student productivity at 36 per cent.
"This is similar to what is experienced in Burkina Faso and Mali. So we see a rise in low productivity among students, because when you go to school, you might not really be that happy to stay within that environment. And also, in the long run, you might see scenarios where there will be an increase in child marriage, particularly in Northern Nigeria, because most people will not be too passionate to send their children to school, particularly the girl child.
"So these are some impacts that this closure will lead to, because also when the school is closed, you don't know when it is going to reopen. It speaks to an erosion of trust.
"People no longer trust the state to carry out this fundamental duty, which is to provide security. When you keep your children in a boarding school scenario, and you can't sleep at night, not knowing what will happen next, it is also a major concern," he added.