Nigeria On High Alert Amid Mass Kidnappings

By Staff, Agencies

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu declared a nationwide security emergency Wednesday after hundreds—mostly children—were kidnapped in under a week.

"This is a national emergency, and we are responding by deploying more boots on the ground, especially in security-challenged areas," Tinubu said in a statement.

In a string of coordinated attacks across various regions, armed groups abducted two dozen Muslim schoolgirls, 38 worshipers, more than 300 schoolchildren and teachers from a Catholic boarding school, 13 young women and girls near a farm, and 10 additional women and children.

While some victims were rescued or managed to escape, 265 students and teachers taken from the Catholic school in Niger state remain unaccounted for.

The abduction in Niger state marks one of the most significant mass kidnappings since the 2014 Chibok incident, when the Boko Haram group kidnapped 276 girls, sparking international outrage.

In response, President Tinubu announced the immediate expansion of Nigeria’s security forces and authorized additional recruitment into the Armed Forces.

"In view of the emerging security situation, I have decided to declare a nationwide security emergency and order additional recruitment into the Armed Forces," Tinubu said.

Over the weekend, Tinubu ordered the redeployment of police officers assigned to VIPs back to core policing duties and approved the hiring of 50,000 new police recruits.

According to the European Union Agency for Asylum [EUAA], more than 100,000 of Nigeria’s approximately 371,000 police officers had previously been assigned to VIP protection rather than public safety.

Tinubu emphasized the need for all sectors to contribute to combating the crisis. "The times require all hands-on deck," he said, pledging continued efforts to secure the release of all those held in captivity.

Nigeria’s insecurity now spans beyond the northeast, as heavily armed gangs in the northwest and central regions launch attacks from forest camps in Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi, and Niger, carrying out kidnappings and armed violence.

Tinubu authorized the intelligence services to deploy specialized forest guards to track and remove these armed groups. He ordered them to “flush out the terrorists and bandits lurking in our forests,” and called for increased personnel to patrol rural zones.

Between July 2024 and June 2025, 4,722 people were kidnapped in 997 incidents in Nigeria, leaving at least 762 dead, with criminals demanding 48 billion naira [$33M] in ransom, of which 2.57 billion naira [$1.66M] was paid.