Technical Faults in Safeguarding: A Root-Cause Analysis of Peer-Led Sexual Exploitation, Incest, and Cyber-Grooming Among Secondary School Students in Southern Nigeria (2026)

Traditional, reactive models of child protection frequently treat adolescent vulnerabilities as isolated, episodic occurrences rather than predictable outcomes of structural systemic failures. This study applies an engineering-first systems framework—specifically Root-Cause Analysis (RCA)—to diagnose the foundational structural loops that expose secondary school students to sexual exploitation, incest, and digital grooming. Drawing from quantitative and qualitative field data collected via the Save the Child Diamond Foundation (STCDF) Child & Teenage Protection Survey (June 2026), this paper analyzes how institutional gaps (such as unsupervised “school fees drives” and a complete absence of trusted school reporting channels), intra-familial silence, and predatory digital architectures (primarily TikTok and Telegram) intersect to compromise adolescent safety. The findings validate a socio-technical mitigation model combining secure, anonymous reporting infrastructure (“Human Rights Kiosks”) with systemic, trauma-informed educator training.

Keywords: Institutional Safeguarding, Socio-Technical Reporting, Root-Cause Analysis, Cyber-Grooming, SGBV, Secondary Education, West Africa.