In a harrowing incident that has deepened concerns over Nigeria’s worsening security situation, over 300 students and teachers were abducted from St Mary’s Catholic School in Niger State, marking the country’s second mass school kidnapping within a week. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) confirmed that 303 students and 12 teachers were seized by armed assailants in an early morning raid on Friday, nearly half the total enrollment at the school.

The kidnapping follows an earlier attack in neighbouring Kebbi State, where 25 girls were abducted from a secondary school on Monday. Authorities have deployed tactical police and military units alongside local hunters to track the kidnappers and locate the missing children, who range in age from 10 to 18. No group has claimed responsibility for either incident so far.

President Bola Tinubu, facing mounting domestic pressure, cancelled his planned attendance at the upcoming G20 summit in South Africa to personally oversee the crisis management efforts. Meanwhile, some northern Nigerian states, including Katsina and Plateau, have ordered temporary school closures as a precautionary measure against further abductions.

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The kidnappings come amid a surge of violent attacks by heavily armed criminal gangs and jihadists in Nigeria’s northwest and central regions. Many such groups operate from forested zones spanning multiple states, complicating security responses. The blending of financially motivated bandits with ideologically driven jihadists has alarmed security analysts, who warn that this alliance poses a growing threat to stability.

These recent incidents echo the trauma of the infamous 2014 Chibok school kidnapping by Boko Haram, in which nearly 300 girls were abducted, many of whom remain missing. The latest crisis underscores Nigeria’s ongoing struggle to protect vulnerable communities and the urgent need for coordinated efforts to end such hostage-taking and violence.

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