Nigeria Urged to Act as Mass Abductions Escalate

Newspaper headlines reflect the abductions of girls and others in Nigeria’s northern states.

On the morning of 17 November 2025, darkness cloaked Maga town in the Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State until gunfire shattered the silence. At around 4 am, armed attackers stormed the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, firing into the air to terrify residents before heading to the staff quarters. There, they killed two people, including Hassan Yakubu, the school’s Chief Security Officer, and abducted 26 female students.

Two later escaped, said Halima Bande, the state’s Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education. The brazen raid occurred less than 72 hours after the killing of Brigadier-General Musa Uba in an ambush by insurgents.

A rescue mission by Nigerian soldiers sent to intervene in the Kebbi abduction was itself ambushed and wounded by the attackers, heightening fears that such violence is spiralling beyond the reach of conventional security responses.

Since then, 24 girls have been released, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu announced.

Abubakar Fakai, whose nine nieces were among the abducted schoolgirls, told IPS that his family and the entire community have been plunged into unbearable grief.

A father of four of the kidnapped girls, Ilyasu Fakai, remains in shock. Almost every household in the close-knit village has been affected. For more than a week, they received no credible information about the girls’ condition or whereabouts, Abubakar said.

“Every night we try to sleep, but we can’t, because we keep thinking of the girls lying somewhere on bare ground, scared and cold. These are teenage girls, and we fear for their dignity and their lives. We just want the government to rescue them quickly and reunite them with us. This pain is too much for our community to bear,” he told IPS.

The Kebbi incident was one of several mass abductions occurring within days of each other.

At least 402 people, mainly schoolchildren, have been kidnapped in four states in the north-central region—Niger, Kebbi, Kwara, and Borno—since 17 November, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday.

Call to Authorities

“We are shocked at the recent surge in mass abductions in north-central Nigeria,” OHCHR Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said in Geneva.

“We urge the Nigerian authorities—at all levels—to take all lawful measures to ensure such vile attacks are halted and to hold those responsible to account.”

A day after the Kebbi attack, a church was raided in Eruku, Kwara, where two people were killed and about 38 abducted during a live service. Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said President Tinubu deployed an additional 900 troops to the community.

In Niger State, St. Mary’s School in Papiri was attacked on Friday, 21 November, and 303 boys and girls, along with 12 teachers, were abducted; only 50 were said to have escaped by Sunday, 23 November. The number surpasses the Chibok abductions that sparked the international “Bring Back Our Girls” campaign.

On the same day, militants launched another deadly attack in Borno State. The incidents underline how Nigeria’s overlapping insurgency and banditry crises are converging with devastating consequences.

Insurgency Threatens Food Security

The rise in insurgent attacks is threatening regional stability and deepening hunger, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).

Nearly 35 million people are projected to face severe food insecurity during the 2026 lean season—the highest number ever recorded in the country. Insurgent attacks have intensified this year, the agency said.

Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate, reportedly carried out its first attack in Nigeria last month, while ISWAP is seeking to expand across the Sahel.

“Communities are under severe pressure from repeated attacks and economic stress,” said David Stevenson, WFP Country Director in Nigeria. “If we can’t keep families fed and food insecurity at bay, desperation could fuel increased instability, with insurgent groups exploiting hunger to expand their influence.”

A Long Shadow Over Schools

Human-rights activist Omoyele Sowore drew national attention to the deteriorating security situation in a viral post.

These incidents are part of a deepening crisis that has targeted schools for more than a decade. According to Save the Children, 1,683 schoolchildren were kidnapped in Nigeria between April 2014 and December 2022. UNICEF reports similar figures, and an SBM report states that 4,722 people were abducted and N2.57 billion (about USD 1.7 million) paid in ransom between July 2024 and June 2025.

Despite Nigeria’s endorsement of the Safe Schools Declaration, many schools remain unprotected.

Experts say criminals and insurgent groups increasingly view schoolchildren as high-value targets. Rural and poorly guarded schools are especially vulnerable.

“This has now become a national and international discussion, giving Nigeria a very bad name,” said Colonel Abdullahi Gwandu, a conflict expert, criticising the government’s failure to anticipate such attacks. He warned that the security lapse threatens not only education but every sphere of national life.

Trauma, Fear, and the Retreat from Education

Following the Kebbi abduction, parents in Maga and nearby areas rushed to withdraw their daughters from school. Community leaders appealed for calm and offered prayers.

Youth advocate Habibat Muhammad said the trend threatens girls’ education. Many rural girls’ schools lack trained guards, perimeter fencing, early-warning systems, and proper lighting, she noted. “Education must be treated as a national priority, not a soft target,” she said.

Why the State Can’t Stop the Attacks

Security experts agree the Kebbi attack exposed systemic failures. Gwandu said the deliberate killing of the school security officer signals a shift in tactics. He urged more intelligence-driven strategies and stronger military responses.

He called for the Northwest Division in Sokoto to be given full authority and resources to respond rapidly, combining human intelligence with AI tools to track bandits and their informants, while also addressing poverty and lack of education.

The Cost Beyond the Kidnappings

Dr. Shadi Sabeh, an educationist and vice-chairman of Iconic University, said healing traumatised children must be central to the country’s recovery efforts. He urged trauma-informed curricula, peer support groups, counselling, and mental health services.

"A hungry man is an angry man, and an idle hand is the devil’s workshop,” he said, stressing the need to keep young people meaningfully engaged.

Jeariogbe Islamiyyah Adedoyin, Vice President of the School of Physical Sciences, added: “No child should ever have to go through this just to get an education. Our girls deserve to learn without fear. When schools are no longer safe, the nation’s future is at risk.”

Government Response—And Its Limits

Authorities have introduced short- and long-term measures, including troop deployment, search-and-rescue operations, temporary closure of vulnerable schools, and public appeals for unity.

However, experts say poverty, unemployment, and poor education continue to drive youth into armed groups, undermining these efforts.

Legal expert Waliu Olaitan Wahab said northern insecurity has roots deeper than Boko Haram or bandit gangs. He argued that decades of neglect by northern elites have left millions of children without support or opportunity, making them easy recruits for criminal groups.