Nigerian Schoolgirls Freed After Abduction in Kebbi State

Wed Nov 26 2025 13:58:32 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Twenty-four Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped from their boarding school have been released after a week, raising concerns over the ongoing issue of school kidnappings in the country.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu announced the release of 24 girls kidnapped from a school in Kebbi State on November 17. The armed attack resulted in the death of two staff members and the abduction of approximately 25 students. Although the president praised security forces for their response, the specifics of the girls' release remain unclear. The incident adds to the troubling trend of school kidnappings in Nigeria, with over 1,500 children abducted since 2014. Tinubu emphasized the need for enhanced security measures in vulnerable areas to prevent future kidnappings.

A group of 24 Nigerian girls who were abducted from their boarding school over a week ago have been released, the country's president said.

Armed assailants stormed the school in Nigeria's Kebbi State on 17 November, killing two members of staff and abducting about 25 students. Two were able to escape soon after.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu praised security forces for their 'swift response' to the incident - although the circumstances of the girls' release remained unclear.

Africa's most populous nation has suffered a spate of abductions in recent years - with more than 250 children abducted from a Catholic school last Friday still missing.

In a statement, a special adviser to the president confirmed that all the girls taken from the school in Kebbi State had been accounted for, saying that the raid had triggered copycat kidnappings in two neighbouring Nigerian states.

Tinubu said that more personnel would be deployed to 'vulnerable areas to avert further incidents of kidnapping'.

In a separate post on X, Tinubu wrote: '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.'

More than 1,500 children have been abducted from Nigerian schools since 2014, when 276 girls were abducted during the infamous Chibok mass abduction.

On Friday, at least 300 children and staff were abducted from St Mary's School, a Catholic boarding school, in Niger state, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria, which says that at least 250 remain unaccounted for.

However, some Nigerian officials have suggested that the number of those kidnapped may be lower.

The main Catholic cleric in the region has told the BBC that Nigeria's government is making 'no meaningful effort' to rescue those still missing.

The abduction at the school was the third to hit Nigeria in a week, forcing President Bola Tinubu to cancel his trip to the G20 summit, held in South Africa at the weekend to deal with the crisis.

UN education envoy Gordon Brown called on the international community to 'do our utmost' to support efforts to return the abducted children. Brown, a former UK prime minister, said: '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.'

The kidnapping of people for ransom by criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, has become a major problem in many parts of Nigeria. In the north-east of the country, jihadist groups have been battling the state for more than a decade.