Twenty-four students abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State, have regained their freedom after a week in the hands of armed attackers.
The girls were seized on 17 November when gunmen stormed the school shortly after military personnel stationed in the area reportedly pulled out. The incident renewed nationwide concerns about the vulnerability of schools across the North-West, where similar attacks have continued to occur.
President Bola Tinubu, in a statement on Tuesday, confirmed their release and commended the security agencies involved.
According to him, “all 24 girls have been accounted for,” adding that government must urgently strengthen security presence in high-risk communities to prevent further school abductions. He also pledged continued federal support to tackle the scourge.
The abduction added to Nigeria’s troubling pattern of school kidnappings, a crisis that has persisted since the 2014 Chibok attack and forced states like Zamfara, Niger, Kaduna, and Katsina to shut down schools in unsafe locations.
While authorities hunted for the kidnapped Kebbi students, another group of gunmen on 21 November raided St. Mary’s Papiri Private Catholic Secondary School in Agwara LGA of Niger State, abducting students and teachers in an overnight attack that residents said happened between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m.
A 2023 report by Save the Children estimated that at least 1,680 students and teachers have been abducted from schools across Nigeria since 2014, with northern states recording the highest numbers.
The Kebbi schoolgirls’ return comes shortly after 38 church members kidnapped during an attack on Christ Apostolic Church Oke Isegun in Eruku, Kwara State, were rescued on Sunday following a coordinated security operation that lasted five days. Three worshippers were killed in that incident.
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