24 school girls freed after 7 day ordeal; Nigeria’s kidnapped crisis deepens
Kebbi State, Nigeria/London-UK, November 26, 2025
TWENTY-FOUR SCHOOLGIRLS RELEASED:
Relief and Renewed Fear Follow Mass Kidnapping in Northwestern Nigeria
Immense relief has swept across Northwestern Nigeria following the announcement that all twenty-four schoolgirls abducted last week from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Kebbi State have been safely released and accounted for.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu confirmed the successful recovery of the students, who had been held captive by armed bandits for nearly seven traumatic days.
While the safe return of the young girls, aged between 12 and 18, brings a desperately needed moment of celebration, this latest incident has only served to underscore the deepening, systemic security crisis gripping the nation, where mass kidnapping has become an alarming, everyday reality.
The students were violently seized on November 17 from their boarding school in Maga town, Kebbi State, during a raid that shocked the local community and resulted in the death of the school’s vice-principal.
Authorities initially reported 25 abductees, but a single student managed to escape the same day, leaving 24 girls in the hands of their captors.
In his statement confirming the release, President Tinubu expressed relief but offered no immediate details on the nature of the rescue operation—whether it was a complex military action or the result of a negotiated release, which often involves controversial ransom payments despite the government’s stated “no ransom” policy.
The girls are currently in the custody of authorities in the state capital, Birnin Kebbi, where they are undergoing medical and psychological evaluations before a highly anticipated reunion with their distraught families.
The joy of the rescue is tempered by the pervasive fear that plagues Nigeria’s northern states.
The Kebbi abduction is not an isolated event but rather one of a rapidly accelerating series of mass kidnappings targeting educational institutions. Just days after the Kebbi incident, a far larger abduction took place at a Catholic school in neighbouring Niger state, where over 300 students and staff were seized.
This pattern of targeting schools, which began notoriously with the Chibok girls kidnapping over a decade ago, demonstrates that educational facilities have become strategic, vulnerable assets for criminal gangs.
These groups, often referred to locally as ‘bandits’ (a term encompassing former herders and hardened criminals), have increasingly turned kidnapping into a lucrative, financial enterprise, distinguishing their motives from the earlier, ideologically-driven attacks by Boko Haram and its affiliates.
Analysts point out that the lack of effective local governance and the presence of vast, under-policed regions allow these violent non-state actors to operate with impunity, demanding large ransoms—sometimes amounting to millions of Naira—to fuel their operations.
The repeated security failures have drawn intense international condemnation. Global bodies like Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Plan International have denounced the attacks as deliberate assaults on the fundamental right to education, particularly for girls, and have urged the Nigerian government to honour its commitment to the Safe Schools Declaration.
Furthermore, the crisis has become a point of diplomatic tension, with high-profile figures, including the Pope and, separately, US President Donald Trump, weighing in. President Trump’s recent threat of potential military intervention over alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria has been strongly rejected by the Nigerian government, yet it underscores the global attention and concern surrounding the country’s spiralling security situation.
For CJ Global, monitoring this situation from London-UK, the successful, yet opaque, release of the Twenty-four Schoolgirls offers a momentary flicker of hope but ultimately reinforces the urgent need for comprehensive government action to protect its most vulnerable citizens and ensure that Nigeria’s education system does not collapse under the weight of fear and criminality.
Headline Points
Successful Release:
All 24 schoolgirls abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Kebbi State, Nigeria, have been safely rescued/released.
Abduction Details:
The girls were seized on November 17; the attack resulted in the death of the school’s vice-principal.
Wider Crisis:
The incident is part of a severe wave of mass abductions across Nigeria’s north, frequently carried out by armed “bandits” for ransom.
Context:
The release comes amid a separate, larger kidnapping of over 300 students and staff in Niger State, highlighting the scale of the national security crisis.
International Pressure:
The Nigerian government faces ongoing calls from international bodies, including Human Rights Watch and the Vatican, to better protect children and implement the Safe Schools Declaration.
