THE PHENOMENON OF KIDNAPPING OF SCHOOL CHILDREN: IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTH-EAST GEO-POLITCAL ZONE OF NIGERIA

Abstract

In the last decade or more, the spate of Kidnapping of School children in Girls Secondary School Chibok, Borno State and Girls Technical College at Dapchi, Yobe state by criminal elements such as Boko Haram terrorists and Bandits in the North- East Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria has become very alarming and embarrassing. The worrisome nature of this criminal act is exacerbated by the negative effects on the educational development in this zone. Unfortunately, the approach adopted by the stakeholders including the federal and state governments has been lethargic and therefore unsatisfactory. This study identified the causes of kidnapping in these schools, examined the implications for educational development and suggested measures needed to effectively combat the menace. The paper employed secondary qualitative materials as its source of data. We adopted content analysis to analyze data collected. Frustration-Aggression theory is the theoretical framework adopted for this study. The paper finds that kidnapping of school children has resulted in the closure of schools, palpable fear amongst school children as well as lack of intelligence gathering and sharing mechanism among the security agencies in the country. The study recommends effective intelligence gathering and sharing among the security agencies to forestall kidnapping. In addition, governments should take proactive measures to address the menace.