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Nigeria has been experiencing insecurity and instability due to terrorism, kidnapping and armed banditry. The persistent banditry in Nigeria’s North West region has undermined the nation’s economic activities and social development and has challenged the government’s primary constitutional responsibility of securing lives and property. The spate of banditry attacks on schools and the resultant mass abduction of students are a source of concern to the future of education in the North West region, and Nigeria as a whole.

Generally, the North West has suffered low enrolment rates due to the prevalence in the region of Islamic education, because most parents are yet to embrace Western education. Only 61% of 6-11 year-olds attend primary school regularly, while only 35.6% of 3-5 year-olds receive early childhood education. Various reasons, including economic hurdles and sociocultural norms and practices, contribute to education deprivation in northern Nigeria and discourage participation in formal school, especially for girls. Female primary school net attendance rates in the North East and North West regions are 47.7% and 47.3%, respectively, implying that more than half of the overall population of girls are not in school.

From the foregoing, it can be deduced that the level of education in the North West has been generally poor even before the upsurge of attacks on schools. The persistent threat posed by bandits and religious extremists in recent times has further hampered efforts at improving education in the region. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to discuss the implications of banditry for education in Nigeria’s North West, with a view to proffering strategies aimed at improving education in the region.