The federal government and several northern states have ordered the shutdown of schools as fears mount over a surge in violent abductions targeting pupils. The sweeping closures follow the kidnapping of 215 students and 12 teachers from St Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in Niger State, early on Friday – one of the largest school abductions in recent years.
The attack, carried out around 2am in the Papiri community of Agwara local government area, came just four days after gunmen abducted 26 schoolgirls from a secondary school in Kebbi, killing the vice-principal and injuring the principal. Two of the Kebbi girls later managed to escape.
The federal government responded by ordering the closure of 41 unity schools nationwide. Kwara, Plateau, Niger, Benue and Katsina states also shut dozens of institutions amid intensifying insecurity. A circular issued by the education ministry listed unity colleges from Minjibir to Zambuk among those affected.
Binta Abdulkadir, director of senior secondary education, said the closures were necessary as communities across the north face escalating attacks. In Niger State, the government suspended all boarding schools in the north senatorial district. Kwara shut schools in four local government areas, while Plateau and Katsina imposed sweeping closures on basic and secondary schools due to rising threats. Benue’s teachers’ union said 50 schools had already been shut for up to two years, with many pupils now living in displacement camps.
Witnesses in Niger State reported that Friday’s attack lasted about an hour. The gunmen, who stormed the school on more than 100 motorbikes, rounded up the pupils while they slept in their dormitories. The state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria said 215 pupils were abducted, though police said they were still verifying the numbers. A joint police–military team has been deployed to launch a rescue mission.
President Bola Tinubu, already rattled by the Kebbi abductions, ordered the minister of state for defence, Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi to oversee rescue efforts. On arrival in Birnin Kebbi on Friday, Matawalle met senior security chiefs behind closed doors to review intelligence and coordinate operations. Security officials said the minister’s presence signalled a more “aggressive phase” in the search-and-rescue effort.
The scale of the crisis has prompted renewed attention to school safety infrastructure. Data from the National Financing Plan for Safe Schools reveals that more than 42,000 primary and secondary schools in northern Nigeria are without perimeter fencing, leaving them highly vulnerable. Kano alone has over 4,000 unfenced primary schools; Benue, Katsina, Niger, Jigawa, Bauchi and Plateau each have more than 2,000.
The Northern States Governors’ Forum condemned the Niger abduction as “disturbing and unacceptable”. Its chairman, Gombe’s governor, Muhammadu Yahaya, said the region could not afford further setbacks as it struggles to reduce the number of out-of-school children. “Schools must remain sanctuaries of learning and growth, not theatres of fear,” he said, warning that criminal attacks threaten to derail efforts to rebuild the region’s educational system.
State governments across the north have begun rolling out new security measures. Sokoto and Kebbi say surveillance around schools has been increased, with officials insisting examinations will continue. But the closures in other states have brought academic activities to a standstill and raised fears of deeper educational disruption.
As rescue operations continue in Niger and Kebbi, parents and community leaders have called for urgent action to protect pupils. “May the Lord grant quick release to those abducted,” said Bulus Yohanna, chairman of the Niger chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, who visited the school on Friday. “We are actively collaborating with security operatives and government authorities for the safe return of all abductees.”
