FG Vows Swift Rescue of Abducted Kebbi Schoolgirls

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FG Vows Swift Rescue of Abducted Kebbi Schoolgirls

Government vows rescue after 25 girls were abducted from a Kebbi boarding school; ministers promise security recalibration and regional cooperation.

Atlantic Post

November 17, 2025

3 minutes

BringBackOurGirls, ECOWAS cooperation, Kebbi abduction, Mohammed Idris, Nigeria security, school kidnappings, Tinubu

The Federal Government has publicly pledged a rapid rescue operation after gunmen stormed Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State and abducted schoolgirls in the early hours of Monday.

Authorities say about 25 female students were taken from their dormitories during the raid, while at least one senior school official was killed resisting the attackers.

Honourable Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, issued a statement expressing solidarity with distraught families and confirming that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had ordered security and intelligence agencies to “locate, rescue, and safely return the students” and to ensure that “the perpetrators face justice.”

The ministry said the government is recalibrating military, policing and intelligence capabilities and will deepen regional cooperation through ECOWAS, the African Union and the Multinational Joint Task Force.

This latest raid is not an isolated incident but part of a grim national pattern.

Since the notorious 2014 Chibok abduction, thousands of Nigerian schoolchildren have been taken in mass kidnappings; independent estimates put the total well into the low thousands — Save the Children recorded more than 1,600 such abductions since Chibok as of 2023, and major news agencies warn the phenomenon has persisted and expanded beyond the northeast.

The scale underlines a chronic failure to secure schools in vulnerable rural belts.

An investigative read of the facts raised by the Kebbi attack suggests several immediate shortcomings.

First, the assailants struck pre-dawn and used superior firepower and speed to breach perimeters and escape through nearby bush and forest tracks — tactics repeatedly employed by criminal gangs operating across the north-west. Local defenders and police engaged but were unable to prevent the abduction, exposing weaknesses in early-warning arrangements and rapid reaction capacity.

Second, ministerial assurances of “recalibration” are welcome but familiar. Previous pledges of security reform have not always translated into sustained deterrence on the ground. The government must now provide a clear, timebound operational plan: immediate deployment of joint search-and-rescue teams, transparent progress reporting to families, forensic follow-up on weapons and supply chains, and public disclosure of any intelligence leads. Civil society and the affected communities should be given structured channels to feed actionable information to operations.

Third, regional cooperation must be operational, not rhetorical. Bandit and cross-border criminal networks exploit porous borders and forest corridors. Joint ECOWAS security tasking, intelligence sharing and combined policing patrols must be rapidly activated and reported in public to restore confidence.

For the families of Maga the immediate need is the safe return of the girls. For the nation the test is whether words of resolve translate into a measurable improvement in protection for schools across the north.

The President and his security chiefs must now show calibrated, accountable action and deliver results. Anything less will only extend a decade-long tragedy that has already cost the country dearly.

Additional reporting from Suleiman Adamu, Senior National Security Correspondent.