Terrorists in the early hours of Monday attacked the Maga Comprehensive Girls Secondary School in Kebbi State and abducted several students in an incident that has further deepened national concerns over the worsening security situation in the northwest. The attackers arrived at about 5:52 am in the morning when students were preparing for the day. According to eyewitness accounts and local reports, the armed men entered the school while firing into the air and forcing their way through the compound. By the time they left, several female students had been taken and a staff member, later identified as the Vice Principal, had been shot dead, while a school guard was left injured. Residents said the attackers moved into the surrounding bush and have not travelled far, prompting urgent appeals to both state and federal authorities to begin a coordinated rescue effort.
This latest incident forms part of a long and troubling pattern of assaults on schools in northern Nigeria, where criminal and extremist groups have increasingly turned educational institutions into targets. Over the past decade, attacks on schools have escalated steadily across Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kaduna, and Kebbi, creating widespread fear among parents and forcing some rural communities to withdraw their children from boarding facilities. Schools in the region have become easy targets for armed criminals who understand that the abduction of large numbers of students produces immediate national attention and often leads to significant ransom payments. Security analysts have repeatedly warned that the continued success of these operations emboldens attackers and further weakens public confidence in the state’s ability to protect vulnerable communities.
In Kebbi and its neighbouring states, reports over the years have shown that many villages have little or no security presence, making it easy for armed groups to move freely. These groups are heavily armed and often better equipped than local security units. Their access to weapons and their knowledge of rural terrain have contributed significantly to their resilience and expansion.
However, in recent years, there has been increasing concern among security researchers that some of these criminal networks are becoming more entangled with extremist cells that share similar methods, even if their motives differ. Some groups operating in Sokoto and Kebbi have been linked by analysts to regional extremist organisations that have pledged allegiance to broader international jihadist movements. Though not all school attacks in the northwest are ideologically driven, the risk of overlap between criminal kidnappers and radical fighters has become more pronounced. This blend of criminal and ideological motives complicates rescue operations and poses new challenges for national security planners.
The rise in these attacks has also generated significant international scrutiny. The United States has, in recent weeks, intensified pressure on Nigeria over alleged human rights violations and the government’s handling of religiously targeted violence. Reports of attacks on Christian communities in several northern states have drawn the attention of international advocacy groups and lawmakers in Washington who argue that the Nigerian state has not done enough to prevent killings attributed to armed groups. While the Nigerian government has consistently denied any tolerance for religious violence and has insisted that most attacks are driven by criminality rather than ideology, the international concern remains strong. In some instances, the United States has considered imposing restrictions or penalties based on what it describes as insufficient government action to protect vulnerable groups. These tensions have added another layer to the security conversation in Nigeria, creating diplomatic pressure at a time when domestic insecurity continues to escalate.
The attack on the Kebbi school also echoes past tragedies that have come to define the crisis of insecurity in Nigeria’s education sector. Notable among these incidents are the abductions in Chibok, Dapchi, Kankara, Jangebe, and Tegina, where hundreds of students were taken at various times. In each case, the aftermath included prolonged rescue efforts, negotiations with kidnappers, traumatised parents, and heightened national anxiety. Many of those students were eventually returned, though often after prolonged captivity and emotional hardship. The recurrence of such attacks has led to periodic school closures across the region, severely affecting enrolment rates and pushing some families to relocate entirely.
In Kebbi, this most recent incident has once again placed the state government under intense pressure to act swiftly and decisively. Community leaders have called for the immediate deployment of security forces into the surrounding forests and villages to track the kidnappers and prevent their movement toward neighbouring states. Residents fear that delays could complicate rescue efforts, especially if the abducted students are moved deeper into remote locations.
The Federal Government is expected to issue a statement outlining rescue measures and security enhancements. In previous incidents, the government has pledged to improve school safety by strengthening perimeter fencing, increasing security patrols, and enhancing community-based early warning systems. While these measures are important and have the potential to reduce some of these attacks, they have not been implemented consistently or at all and have failed to keep pace with the scale of the threat.
As search and rescue operations begin, families of the abducted students are left in fear and uncertainty, waiting for updates that could determine the fate of their children.
Samuel Aina