Banditry takes its toll on mental health of students, staff

Hassan Ibrahim, a third-year student of polymer and textile engineering at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria in the north-western state of Kaduna, has been suffering from anxiety for a better part of this year.

Ibrahim said the activities of terrorists known locally as bandits have not just disrupted schooling in the state, but also the mental state of many a student, including him.

“Each time I want to travel the road from Kaduna to Zaria, I panic. I remember that I can be kidnapped or killed by bandits at any time just as any other student who has been kidnapped or killed by bandits in the past,” the 24-year-old told University World News.

On 15 November 2020, nine ABU students – all from the university’s department of French – were abducted by bandits along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway while travelling from Kaduna to Lagos. The students regained freedom after spending five days in captivity. Local media reported that the kidnappers demanded NGN9 million (about US$22,000) to free the students.

Ibrahim also recalled how bandits invaded the privately owned Greenfield University in Kaduna in April 2021, kidnapping 20 students, five of whom were murdered by their captors after their families could not raise the ransom in time.

One of the captives was freed after 10 days while the rest were freed a month later. Parents said they paid a ransom of NGN150 million and eight brand new motorcycles to the bandits.

“The series of kidnapping incidents make me experience anxiety anytime I go to school,” Ibrahim said, but stressed that his psychological state has become worse because he cannot readily access mental healthcare.

“Banditry attacks have left everyone panicky, even university staff. So, even though we have a healthcare facility with a mental care unit on campus, we’re afraid of visiting and spending so much time on campus as bandits may strike at any time,” he said.

University World News reported on 9 December 2021 that, according to Scholars at Risk, Boko Haram had, since 2017, attacked the University of Maiduguri repeatedly.

Other criminal groups had abducted about 1,000 learners, students and staff for ransom since December 2020. In March 2021, 90 higher education students and staff were abducted and at least 11 people killed in violent raids in northern Nigeria.

Stereotypes stop students from seeking help

Hauwa Bello, an animal-science student at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, also in north-western Nigeria, said the way those seeking mental healthcare are perceived makes her shy away.

“I have considered many times to seek trauma care because I have flashbacks of bandit attacks, but when I told an aunt, she asked why I needed to see a counsellor when I wasn’t crazy,” Bello said.

Halima Abubakar, an accounting student at the University of Maiduguri in the north-eastern state of Borno, where Boko Haram has held a grip for over a decade, said those seeking psychologists’ help are perceived as mentally deranged and could be subjected to further trauma.

“Before you know what’s happening, they could organise an imam to come and carry you to a home where all sorts of human rights abuses take place,” Abubakar said.

Cephas Lawal, a student at the Kaduna State University, said: “Many think you are weak, and that you are not man enough if you tell them you are depressed. Sometimes, I just tell them I need to cool my head when I actually mean I am depressed.”

Professor Taiwo Sheikh, president of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria who also lectures at Ahmadu Bello University, in a recent article in Vanguard noted that Nigeria faces an “emergency” in mental health.

“Underpinned by poor societal attitudes towards mental illness and inadequate resources, facilities, and mental health staff, over 90% of individuals with serious mental health needs cannot access care,” Sheikh wrote on 16 November 2021. “There are gaps in the integration of mental healthcare into general healthcare services at all levels, which emphasise the general neglect and stigma around mental health issues in the country.

Big burden, poor investments

A 2017 report by the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that 30% of Nigerians (then approximately 57 million) were suffering from mental illness. Four years later, experts said the figure would have increased.

Despite the huge mental illness burden in Nigeria, there are only 250 licensed psychiatrists available to a population of more than 200 million, according to data from the Association of Psychiatrists. This implies that one psychiatrist will need to attend to about 228,000 Nigerians – a far cry from the WHO-recommended psychiatrist to population ratio of 1:8,000-10,000.

Also, due to poor welfare, many mental healthcare professionals, like other medical personnel, have been forced to quit and travel overseas for greener pastures.

According to Dr Jibril Abdulmalik, a consulting psychiatrist at University College Hospital in Ibadan, the government neglects mental healthcare.

“For instance, there is a desk officer for mental health at the federal ministry of health, but mental health, itself, has no department or directorate. At the ministries of health in many states, there is not even a desk officer for mental health. This shows systemic neglect of mental health in Nigeria,” he said.

Student, youth bodies call for help

Mujahid Shuaib, president of the National Association of University Students (NAUS), asked the government to show concern for the mental state of students in insurgency-ravaged areas. Sources, including lecturers, told University World News that, on some campuses, there are no mental care centres where students can seek help.

“The [insecurity] situation has made a lot of students depressed. No campus in the north is safe. If bandits could break into the Nigerian Defence Academy and kidnap a military man, it tells you nowhere is safe,” he said. “Some of the students can’t study properly. Even the lecturers are afraid.”

Ibrahim Lawal, president of the Northern Youth Assembly of Nigeria, said the body is bothered about how students are helpless amid insecurity in the north.

“Insurgency has reduced education to nothing in northern Nigeria. In many states in the north, students panic when going to school because they can never know when bandits or terrorists would strike. There are some roads we can’t travel.”

Move students to safe locations

Dr Adebimpe Adebiyi, a spokesperson for Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health, said there is at least a federal tertiary hospital in every state in the country that any student suffering from trauma can access. “I understand some of the institutions also have health centres with mental health professionals,” she said.

Amid inadequate mental care facilities and personnel, Dr Olugbemi Olukolade, the national secretary of the Nigerian Association of Clinical Psychologists, said traumatised students can engage in self-help.

“What should be done first is to move the students to safe locations. Then mental health professionals or psychologists can be invited to some of the facilities to assess each student and offer them mental health first aid or therapy,” Olukolade said.

“The students, themselves, can engage in community sharing – talking about what they have witnessed among themselves. They could connect with friends, engage in good dietary habits, and sleep well while giving themselves time to heal. Universities are also encouraged to have counselling or mental wellness centres to cater for traumatised students,” Olukolade said.

Jesusegun Alagbe is an online editor and award-winning journalist, writer and researcher.