THE DUAL CRISIS OF COMMUNAL CONFLICT, DISPLACEMENT-INDUCED TEENAGE PREGNANCY, AND THE SYSTEMIC DISRUPTION OF GIRL-CHILD EDUCATION IN DONGA LGA, TARABA STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the complex interplay between communal conflict, internal displacement, and the escalating rate of teenage pregnancy as a critical barrier to girl-child education in Donga Local Government Area (LGA), Taraba State, Nigeria. Situated within the protracted farmer-herder conflicts zone of Nigeria's North East, communities in Donga LGA, such as Afogba, Akinde, Torgenyi, Sabongida Isha, Juku, Dogo, Akate and Utsev have experienced repeated attacks, forcing populations into congested Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps housed in schools like Government Day Secondary School Tordamisa. This research posits that these camps, characterized by collapsed social structures, inadequate security, and minimal humanitarian support, have become incubators for Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and transactional sex, leading to a reported "weekly experience" of teenage pregnancy. Employing a feminist political economy lens and Sen's Capability Approach, the paper opines that pregnancy acts as a definitive endpoint to formal education for displaced girls, a consequence of systemic policy failure, profound stigma, and overwhelming socio-economic burdens. A mixed-methods design was used to quantify the prevalence and correlates of pregnancy and to qualitatively explore the living experiences of displaced adolescents. The findings project a catastrophic erosion of human capital, underscoring the urgent need for integrated interventions that concurrently address security, sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), and educational continuity in humanitarian settings. The study concludes that without such multi-sectoral approaches, the crisis will perpetuate intergenerational cycles of poverty and disenfranchisement, undermining sustainable development in the region and the free education policy of the Taraba State government.