Twenty-four Nigerian schoolgirls abducted from their boarding school more than a week ago have been freed, according to President Bola Tinubu.
The attack occurred on 17 November, when armed gunmen stormed Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School (GGCSS) in Kebbi State, killing a staff member and seizing 25 students. One of the girls managed to escape shortly after the incident.
In a statement, Tinubu commended Nigeria’s security agencies for what he described as a “swift response”, though officials have not yet clarified how the girls were successfully released.
Nigeria has grappled with a rise in school kidnappings over the years, with the latest wave of attacks intensifying fears across the country. Officials confirmed that the Kebbi incident triggered similar copycat kidnappings in two additional states.
The president has ordered the deployment of more security personnel to vulnerable zones to prevent further attacks. He also directed the Nigerian Air Force to maintain persistent aerial surveillance, working in coordination with ground forces to locate and neutralise hostile groups.
More than 1,500 schoolchildren have been abducted in Nigeria since the infamous 2014 Chibok kidnapping, where 276 girls were taken from their school. Last Friday, another major abduction occurred at St Mary’s School, a Catholic boarding school in Niger State, where more than 300 students and staff were seized. According to the Christian Association of Nigeria, around 50 have since escaped, leaving at least 250 still missing.
The region’s top Catholic cleric criticised the government’s efforts, saying that authorities have shown “no meaningful attempt” to rescue those still unaccounted for.
This latest crisis forced President Tinubu to cancel his planned trip to the G20 summit in South Africa over the weekend as pressure mounts for immediate action.
UN education envoy and former UK prime minister Gordon Brown urged the global community to support Nigeria, stressing that schools must be protected.
He said: “We must do our utmost to ensure Nigerian classrooms remain safe spaces for learning, not hunting grounds for criminal gangs.”