Nigeria has witnessed a rise in school-based violence among high school and university students, which has led to tragic consequences and heightened public concern. Numerous cases of school-related violence have drawn widespread attention, with social media amplifying instances of student-on-student aggression, staff abuse of students, and violent altercations involving community members within educational settings.

Notable cases include the death of Sylvester Oromoni Junior at Dowen College, allegedly due to bullying and assault by fellow students; the alleged physical and sexual abuse of Don Davies Archibong at Deeper Life Secondary School; the recent violent conflicts at Lead British International School, which culminated in the school’s temporary closure and other violent attacks on students by cult groups and gang-related violence in Nigerian universities.

In response to reported school violence, school authorities and administrators often adopt punitive disciplinary measures, including zero-tolerance policies such as suspensions, expulsions, and criminal prosecutions.

While these measures may seem appropriate, especially in severe cases involving loss of life, they do not address the underlying causes of violence, nor do they offer any protocol for dealing with made threats. A more structured and evidence-based approach, such as Behavioral Threat Assessment Management (BTAM), offers a sustainable solution for identifying and mitigating threats before they escalate.

Research has shown that excessive reliance on exclusionary discipline does not improve school safety; instead, it contributes to further aggression, poor educational outcomes, and an increased likelihood of juvenile crime.

Kelvin Afolabi, a Nigerian PhD researcher who recently defended his dissertation at the University of Virginia, whose focus is on advancing the methodological toolkit available to education, social, and behavioral researchers and team science is on school climate and Behavioral Threat Assessment Management (BTAM) housed in the Youth Violence Project lab, which Professor Dewey Cornell heads. Afolabi’s research stresses the importance of the BTAM framework in mitigating the escalation of made threats in Nigerian schools.

A proven and widely adopted BTAM framework is the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG), developed by Professor Dewey Cornell. The CSTAG protocol is a school-based multidisciplinary team effort that uses a 154-page manual with a 5-step decision tree to assess the seriousness of a threat made in the school environments arising from student frustrations, grievances, or social conflicts that can be managed through intervention rather than harsh punishment. CSTAG provides a structured, evidence-based method for identifying, assessing, and managing threats in a way that is fair, consistent, and effective.

The CSTAG framework, can be integrated into the Nigerian educational system while addressing Nigeria’s unique social, cultural, and educational context. To address threats across Nigerian schools, every school should establish a Threat Assessment Team (TAT), including school psychologists, teachers, administrators, security personnel, medical professionals, and community representatives. Where professional psychologists are unavailable, social workers or trained teachers can perform initial assessments.

Schools should encourage anonymous threat reporting through hotlines, online systems, and suggestion boxes while regularly sensitizing stakeholders about warning signs. Following CSTAG, reported threats are then classified as no threat, transient (resolvable through mediation), serious substantive (requiring intervention without immediate suspension), or very serious substantive (indicating clear violence risk and requiring urgent action).

Once identified, the TAT assesses threat credibility by evaluating intent and capability, contextual factors like family distress or gang involvement, and determining appropriate interventions. Rather than automatic punishment, interventions may include conflict resolution, counseling, restorative justice, monitoring, and community engagement. For cases requiring intervention, a threat management plan should assign monitoring roles, establish short and long-term interventions based on severity, provide rehabilitation, and ensure accountability without automatic exclusion.

In conclusion, regular evaluation of the CSTAG team protocol improves its effectiveness through periodic case reviews, implicit bias training, disciplinary outcome monitoring, and engaging law enforcement only when necessary. The BTAM prioritizes prevention over punishment, reduces school exclusions, addresses socioeconomic and cultural contexts, enhances school safety and climate, and supports national education and security goals.