Nigerian authorities have secured the release of 24 schoolgirls who were kidnapped from their boarding school over a week ago, President Bola Tinubu announced on Tuesday.
The students were abducted from the Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School in Kebbi State on 17 November, when armed attackers attacked the school. The assault claimed the life of a staff member, while one of the 25 students initially taken managed to escape shortly after the incident.
President Tinubu praised the security forces for their “swift response” to the crisis, though the exact circumstances surrounding the girls’ release remain unclear.
A special adviser to the president confirmed that all the girls have been accounted for and noted that the attack inspired similar abductions in two other Nigerian states.
To prevent further kidnappings, Tinubu said additional security personnel would be sent to “vulnerable areas to avert further incidents of kidnapping.”
He further stated on X: “The Air Force is to maintain continuous surveillance over the most remote areas, synchronising operations with ground units to effectively identify, isolate, disrupt, and neutralise all hostile elements.”
Nigeria has faced a worrying pattern of school abductions over the past decade. Since 2014, more than 1,500 children have been kidnapped, including the notorious abduction of 276 girls from Chibok.
The crisis escalated last Friday when at least 300 children and staff were taken from St Mary’s Catholic boarding school in Niger State. The Christian Association of Nigeria reported that 50 of those abducted have escaped, while about 250 are still missing.
The top Catholic cleric in the region criticized the government, telling the BBC that Nigeria’s authorities are making “no meaningful effort” to rescue the remaining children.
The week has seen a series of abductions, forcing President Tinubu to cancel his participation in the G20 summit in South Africa to manage the unfolding situation.
UN education envoy Gordon Brown, a former UK prime minister, called for urgent international support, stating: “It's also incumbent on us to ensure that Nigerian schools are safe spaces for learning, not spaces where children can be plucked from their classroom for criminal profit.”
