22 November 2025
Nigeria’s security crisis has deepened dramatically this week, with armed gangs abducting a staggering 240 pupils from schools in the north-western and central regions. The latest outrage unfolded in Niger State, where gunmen stormed a Catholic boarding school, seizing 215 girls and 12 teachers in a brazen dawn raid that has left communities reeling and prompted urgent calls for federal intervention.
The attack on St Mary’s Private Catholic Secondary School in the Papiri community of Agwara local government area occurred in the early hours of Friday, 21 November. According to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), which has been coordinating with local authorities, the assailants targeted the school’s hostel, where most of the victims were sleeping. All 215 pupils abducted were girls aged between 12 and 17, underscoring the vulnerability of female students in the country’s conflict-ridden north. No group has yet claimed responsibility, but security experts point to the region’s notorious “bandit” gangs, who operate from forested hideouts and frequently demand ransoms for their captives.
Initial reports from state officials cited a lower figure of 52 abductions, but this has now been revised upwards following a more thorough headcount by CAN representatives and school staff. Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of CAN’s Niger State chapter and Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese, confirmed the grim total of 227 victims in a statement issued from Minna. “Some students managed to escape during the chaos, but our records show 215 pupils and 12 teachers were taken,” he said. Tactical police units and military forces were swiftly deployed to scour surrounding forests, though no breakthroughs have been reported as of Saturday evening.
This horrifying incident comes just four days after a similarly devastating assault in neighbouring Kebbi State, where gunmen raided the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town on Monday, 17 November. There, 25 female students were dragged from their dormitories at around 4am, in an attack that also claimed the life of the school’s vice-principal, Hassan Yakubu Makuku, and left another staff member injured. One of the abducted girls managed a daring escape through dense woodland later that day, arriving home shaken but unharmed, according to school principal Musa Rabi Magaji. The remaining 24 are still missing, with joint teams of police, army personnel, and local hunters combing nearby forests for any sign of the perpetrators or their young charges.
The combined toll—215 from St Mary’s and 25 from Maga—marks the abduction of 240 students in under a week, evoking painful memories of the 2014 Chibok kidnapping, when Boko Haram extremists seized 276 schoolgirls in Borno State. That tragedy, which saw over 100 girls held for years, ignited global outrage and the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. Since then, more than 1,500 students have been kidnapped across Nigeria’s schools, according to a 2024 Save the Children report, with bandit groups exploiting the northwest’s vast, ungoverned spaces for profit.
Compounding the horror, the Niger State government has faced criticism for its handling of the St Mary’s raid. In a statement, Secretary Abubakar Usman revealed that boarding schools in the area had been ordered closed due to heightened threat intelligence. “Regrettably, St Mary’s proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities without notifying or seeking clearance from the state government, thereby exposing pupils and staff to avoidable risk,” he said. The disclosure has sparked debate over the balance between education and security, with parents accusing authorities of failing to enforce closures amid rising banditry.
President Bola Tinubu has cancelled international engagements, including the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on the crisis. “We must find these children. Act decisively and professionally on all intelligence. Success is not optional,” he urged troops during a briefing. The incidents have also drawn unwelcome international scrutiny, coming weeks after US President Donald Trump’s threats of military intervention over alleged “Christian genocide” in Nigeria—a claim the government vehemently denies, insisting that Muslim communities bear the brunt of bandit violence.
As search operations intensify, families huddle in prayer and vigil, their daughters’ empty beds a stark reminder of a nation under siege. With bandits growing bolder and security stretched thin, the question lingers: how many more schools must fall before Nigeria’s children can learn without fear?
