Gunmen Abduct 25 Schoolgirls, Kill Staff Member in Northwestern Nigeria
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) – Gunmen attacked a high school in northwestern Nigeria before dawn on Monday, abducting 25 schoolgirls and killing one staff member, police reported. Another staff member was wounded in the attack, the latest in a series of school abductions plaguing Nigeria’s northern region.
The abduction took place at approximately 4:00 a.m.at a boarding school in Maga, within the Danko-Wasagu area of Kebbi state, according to police spokesperson Nafi’u Abubakar Kotarkoshi. The girls were taken from their dormitories.
Kotarkoshi stated the assailants were armed with “sophisticated weapons” and engaged in a firefight with school security guards before carrying out the abduction.
“A combined team is currently combing suspected escape routes and surrounding forests in a coordinated search and rescue operation aimed at recovering the abducted students and arresting the perpetrators,” Kotarkoshi added.
No group has yet claimed duty for the attack.
This incident underscores a disturbing trend of school abductions in northern Nigeria, which began in 2014 with the kidnapping of 276 students from Chibok in Borno state. Nearly 100 of those girls remain in captivity as of 2024.
Since the Chibok abduction, at least 1,500 students have been kidnapped by armed groups who exploit the region’s limited security presence and utilize ransom payments as a means to fund criminal activities and exert control over villages in the mineral-rich area. In March 2024, over 130 schoolchildren were rescued after being held captive for more than two weeks in Kaduna state.
Kidnappings for ransom have become commonplace in parts of northern Nigeria, with ransoms often reaching thousands of dollars.
Copyright 2025 The Associated press.
