THIS DAWN — At least 25 schoolgirls were abducted by armed attackers in a pre-dawn raid on a girls’ boarding school in Kebbi State, Nigeria, according to local authorities.
The attack occurred around 4:00 a.m. on Monday in the compound of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, located in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area.
During the raid, one staff member was killed, later identified by security officials as Vice-Principal Hassan Makuku, while another staffer was injured.
According to Kebbi State Police spokesperson CSP Nafiu Abubakar Kotarkoshi, the attackers fired shots and scaled the school fence before herding the students into waiting vehicles.
Police said they swiftly responded to the incident.
Police swing into action
A tactical team, backed by military personnel and local vigilantes, was deployed to comb escape routes and nearby forests in a coordinated search and rescue operation.
The incident underscores the ongoing security crisis in parts of northern Nigeria.
Loosely organized armed groups — often called “bandits” — have increasingly targeted schools for kidnappings.
Local sources said the gunmen infiltrated through nearby forests, despite military checkpoints in the area.
Kebbi State government officials say they are closely monitoring developments.
The Deputy Governor, Senator Umar Tafida, has been dispatched to the school to assess the situation, while the governor’s office has pledged full cooperation with security agencies.
Meanwhile, anxious parents and residents continue waiting for news of the girls’ fate, as authorities commit to intensifying the search effort.
The situation has reignited public concern over school safety and the rising threat of kidnappings.
It also challenged the ability of the Nigerian government and security forces to protect students in vulnerable rural communities.
Decade of Pain: Unresolved Tragedies of Chibok & Dapchi Girls
More than a decade after Nigeria was first shaken by the mass abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok, the country continues to grapple with the lingering trauma, unanswered questions, and haunting reminders of unresolved kidnappings involving schoolchildren in the Northeast.
On April 14, 2014, Boko Haram militants stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, abducting 276 schoolgirls in what became one of the most widely condemned terrorist attacks in Africa.
Global outrage fueled the #BringBackOurGirls movement, prompting international campaigns and government negotiations.
Over the years, several batches of girls have been rescued or released, but more than 90 remain missing, their fates uncertain, leaving families in perpetual anguish.
For the parents, the pain of not knowing whether their daughters are alive, enslaved, or dead remains a daily torment.
Four years later, in February 2018, another mass kidnapping shocked the nation.
Boko Haram fighters abducted 110 schoolgirls from Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, in Yobe State.
In contrast to Chibok, most of the girls were returned within a month—delivered back to the town in convoy by the same insurgents who seized them.
Leah Sharibu
But one girl never came home: 14-year-old Leah Sharibu.
Leah became an international symbol of faith and resilience after militants reportedly kept her in captivity for refusing to renounce her Christian religion.
While her classmates were freed, Leah remained behind, and years later, she is still unaccounted for.
Periodic reports have suggested she may have been forced into marriage and motherhood, but none of these speculations has been officially confirmed.
The Nigerian government has repeatedly promised that all remaining Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu will be rescued, yet no decisive breakthrough has occurred.
Human rights groups argue that the prolonged captivity of these girls exposes failures in intelligence, negotiation strategy, and the broader counterterrorism response.
Today, the names Chibok, Dapchi, and Leah Sharibu stand as painful reminders of Nigeria’s insecurity crisis—stories of stolen childhoods, broken families, and a nation still waiting for closure.
