25 Schoolgirls Abducted in Nigeria as Kidnapping Crisis Escalates

Nigeria’s worsening security nightmare took another grim turn early Monday as 25 schoolgirls were abducted during a violent raid on a boarding school in the country’s northwest. The coordinated attack which left one educator dead and another wounded occurred around 4 a.m. at the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Kebbi State’s Maga town, and is the latest in a wave of mass kidnappings that has plagued the country for over a decade.

According to police spokesperson Nafiu Abubakar Kotarkoshi, gunmen armed with assault rifles exchanged fire with security officers before scaling the school’s perimeter fence and abducting the girls. Vice Principal Hassan Yakubu Makuku was shot and killed while bravely resisting the attackers. Another school staff member was injured in the confrontation.

Authorities say tactical police units, soldiers, and local vigilantes have been deployed in a manhunt across forested escape routes but hope is fading fast, as similar efforts in past kidnappings have yielded limited results.

This is not an isolated event. The Kebbi kidnapping comes just months after 287 children were abducted in Kuriga village, Kaduna State, in one of the most chilling attacks since the infamous 2014 Chibok schoolgirl abduction by Boko Haram. In that case, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of 1 billion naira (over $620,000) and threatened to kill all the hostages if their demands weren’t met.

Some disturbing facts that paint the bigger picture:

• Over 1,400 students have been kidnapped in Nigeria since 2021, according to UNICEF data.

• In Kaduna alone, at least 140 students were taken in one raid in 2021, and several were executed when ransoms went unpaid.

• The Kuriga kidnappers claimed their actions were revenge for security forces killing gang members, according to a civilian contacted by the group.

These mass abductions have become a lucrative industry for organized criminal gangs, often referred to locally as “bandits.” Despite repeated promises from the Nigerian government and international pressure, the cycle continues: children are snatched, ransoms are paid or ignored, and the perpetrators vanish back into the wilderness.

What’s worse, these acts are no longer being carried out only by Islamic extremists like Boko Haram or ISIS-affiliated groups increasingly, well-armed cartel-style gangs are behind the violence, driven by money and enabled by government failure and rampant corruption.

The Nigerian government, under both current and previous administrations, has proven either unwilling or unable to prevent these atrocities. The question isn’t just about security anymore it’s about whether the Nigerian state is failing altogether in its most basic responsibility: protecting its children from predators.

International outrage has been predictably muted, with Western leaders more focused on “climate equity” and social media censorship than the very real terror being inflicted on African children. Once again, innocent girls are paying the price for the world’s indifference and the Nigerian elite’s incompetence.

As of now, the 25 girls taken from Kebbi remain missing.

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