Abstract

This study investigated the impact of banditry activities on students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Zamfara State, Nigeria, a region that has become an epicentre of armed banditry, mass abductions and school closures. The escalation of banditry has contributed to a high number of out-of-school children in the North-West, where roughly 30 percent of Nigeria’s out-of-school children are concentrated (Chukwu, 2020). Adopting a cross-sectional survey design, the study drew on 373 respondents students, teachers and school administrators selected from banditry-affected public secondary schools through stratified random sampling. Two objectives guided the inquiry: to examine the extent to which banditry-induced school disruption affects students’ academic performance, and to determine the effect of banditry-related psychological trauma on students’ academic performance. Data were analysed using performance percentage analysis, descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation and simple linear regression at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed a strong negative and statistically significant relationship between banditry exposure and academic performance (r = −0.71, p < 0.05), and a significant negative effect of banditry-related trauma on academic performance (β = −0.66, p < 0.05, R² = 0.436). Percentage analysis showed that 81% of respondents affirmed that banditry-induced school closures had lowered academic performance. The study concludes that banditry is a powerful negative determinant of academic outcomes in Zamfara State, operating through school closures, absenteeism, psychological trauma, teacher shortages and displacement. It recommends coordinated security intervention, school-based psychosocial support, and remedial and alternative-learning programmes for affected students.