Terror groups often behind attacks on education sector

Most governments in Africa have been unable to shield schools, universities, students, teachers and academics within their borders from attacks by terrorist organisations and other non-state armed groups, according to findings from the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA).

In a report, Education Under Attack 2022, GCPEA noted that, in 2020 and 2021, attacks on higher education by militant groups had been on the rise globally, and more so in Africa, where violence in 14 countries was described.

During this period, assaults on higher education on the continent took an upward trend, with many of the attacks occurring in countries in West Africa, Central Africa, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa.

The bulk of the attacks were executed by groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria, the Islamic State West Africa Province, Islamic State in Greater Sahara and Somalia’s al-Shabaab.

Al-Qaeda affiliates, such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, led attacks on higher education in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, while various rebel movements and their splinter armed groups were active in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique.

Nigeria

Whereas, in total, more than 1,400 students or educators in Nigeria were abducted, injured or killed by Boko Haram and many other unidentified armed groups in the past two years, some of the indiscriminate attacks were levelled against universities and their students and staff.

GCPEA noted that, between 2020 and 2021, more than 20 attacks occurred on higher education, in which 100 university students and academics were reportedly injured, abducted or killed.

For instance, in January 2020, members of a Boko Haram-affiliated or splinter group abducted and killed a student of the University of Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria.

Cameroon

In Cameroon, most attacks on education institutions, students and staff occurred in the northwest and southwest regions of the country, where separatists and security forces have been fighting since 2016, effectively significantly reducing school attendance.

In this regard, GCPEA investigators recorded various cases of attacks on higher education including an assault on Kulu Memorial College in the town of Limbe on 4 November 2020 by armed separatists who wanted to create an independent state of Ambazonia, a geographical entity.

“After perpetrating sexual violence on students and teachers, the attackers burned several classrooms and materials,” stated the report, quoting the local media.

The University of Bamenda, which is located in northwest Cameroon, had its share of violent attacks that led staff at the university to go on strike on 21 October last year, citing insecurity.

Prior to the strike, on 17 May 2020, a professor at the university was killed by separatists for refusing to adhere to a schooling boycott imposed by the armed group, while, on 5 July 2020, a female student of the same university was kidnapped by separatists near her dormitory.

On 7 January 2021, armed gunmen abducted six students who were driving into Bamenda University, and two lecturers were abducted on 24 September.

Eleven students of the Baptist Training School for Health Personnel were abducted on 17 May, while, on 10 November, an armed group detonated an improvised explosive device on a building at the University of Buea, injuring 11 students.

In total, GCPEA identified nine attacks during the past two years on higher education perpetrated by separatist groups in Cameroon.

Although GCPEA investigators collected more than 600 reported incidents of attacks on schools in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 2020 and 2021, only sporadic incidents were perpetrated by armed insurgents on higher education and university students and staff.

Ethiopia

But the situation was different in Ethiopia where, in total, 760 schools were damaged or destroyed in the past two years, which affected more than 150,000 students, although GCPEA profiled only eight attacks on higher education.

The most serious incident involving unknown armed assailants occurred on 20 February last year when gunmen killed six students and injured another 10 after firing on a bus that was carrying students of Mekelle University along the Addis Ababa-Mekelle highway.

Libya

In Libya, eight attacks on higher education that mainly involved abductions of students, university staff and indiscriminate shelling near higher education buildings, were principally perpetrated by unknown armed groups.

On 20 March 2020, unidentified assailants entered a council meeting at Almargeb University in Al-Khums town and abducted a member of the university council, whom they later killed.

The report also highlighted an incident in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, where, on 22 April 2020 armed groups aimed mortar shells at Al-Fateh University and destroyed a dormitory.

Fortunately, on 6 January 2020, the police defused an explosive device that was planted by an armed group in a building at Sirte University in the city of Sirte.

In 2021, on 3 July, members of a militia group entered a university in Ejelat city in western Libya, fired indiscriminately and, thereafter, abducted one student.

Governments must do more

There were fewer incidents of attacks on higher education institutions, students and staff in Africa in comparison to attacks on secondary schools and abductions of students, mostly girls. But GCPEA senior researchers Jerome Marston and Marika Tsolakis warned that attacks on education are expected to rise in Africa due to an increase in non-state armed groups.

Amid efforts to reduce attacks on education, GCPEA is urging governments to hold perpetrators to account and provide assistance to survivors.

“Where feasible, states should maintain safe access to education during armed conflict, including by working with school and university communities and all other relevant stakeholders to develop strategies to reduce the risk of attacks,” said the two researchers.

Towards this objective, GCPEA has advised countries to provide security to schools and universities as well as non-discriminatory assistance for all survivors of attacks on education, regardless of gender, ethnicity, socio-economic background or other differences.