UN says Nigeria ranks 4th as attacks on school children globally surge by 44%

UNO image

A UN report says Nigeria ranks fourth globally among countries with the highest levels of “grave violations” against school children in armed conflict.

The UN secretary-general’s 2024 report on children and armed conflict, published in 2025, stated that it verified 41,370 attacks.

The report described this figure as the highest number of grave violations against children in nearly 30 years.

The “grave violations” include abduction, recruitment, and sexual violence.

Nigeria’s place on its global ranking, the report said, follows Israel (and the occupied Palestinian territory), the DRC, and Somalia.

It said 8,554 cases of grave violations, for 2024, were recorded in Israel, 4,043 in DRC, 2,568 in Somalia, 2,436 in Nigeria, and 2,269 in Haiti.

While non-state armed groups were responsible for half of the attacks, the report said government forces were the main perpetrators of the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access.

It said attacks on schools globally surged by a staggering 44 per cent between 2022 and 2023, while the use of schools for military purposes rose by 20 per cent.

The report noted that over 10,000 students and teachers were either killed, abducted, arrested, or harmed during this period.

“These violations threaten not only individual lives but the future of entire communities,” the report said.