Before dawn on November 17, 2025, the quiet of Maga town in Nigeria’s Kebbi state was shattered by a violent raid that has once again brought the country’s persistent security crisis into sharp relief. Gunmen stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, scaling its fence, exchanging gunfire with police officers, and abducting at least 24 schoolgirls from their dormitory. The attack left two staff members dead—one a teacher who tried to protect his students, the other a security guard who succumbed to gunshot wounds in hospital, according to the BBC and Associated Press.
The aftermath has been a blur of anguish, fear, and urgent action. Security forces, joined by local hunters and volunteers, swept through the forests and bushland surrounding the school, seeking any trace of the missing girls. The search has been relentless, with Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu, directing what he described as “intelligence-driven operations and relentless day-and-night pursuit of the abductors.” He told troops, “We must find these children. Act decisively and professionally on all intelligence. Success is not optional,” as reported by AP and echoed by the BBC.
In a rare glimmer of hope, two of the abducted girls managed to escape their captors. One, identified as 15-year-old Hawau Usman, recounted her ordeal to the Associated Press. “They kept moving, and when they left, I ran back to the school,” Usman said. She knocked on the principal’s door but found no answer, eventually seeking refuge with a teacher. The other girl, who fled across farmland, required medical treatment for a leg injury sustained during her escape, according to BBC reports. Both girls are now safe, though their families and classmates remain gripped by anxiety.
The violence has devastated the community. The school’s dormitories and classroom blocks now stand deserted, the usual bustle of students replaced by an eerie silence. Families wait in agony for news, their hopes wavering between despair and cautious optimism. Abdulkarim Abdullahi, whose daughter and granddaughter—aged 13 and 10—were among those kidnapped, described the chaos: “I was at home when I suddenly heard gunshots from the school. We were told that the attackers entered the school with many motorcycles.” Another parent told BBC Hausa that his two daughters hid in a toilet during the attack, but one was forced out when the gunmen threatened to kill anyone who remained hidden.
The attackers, described locally as “bandits,” are suspected to be part of armed gangs that have plagued northern Nigeria for years. These groups, often comprised of former herders who have taken up arms following clashes with farming communities over strained resources, regularly target schools, travelers, and remote villages in a bid for ransom or leverage, according to analysts cited by AP and BBC. No group has claimed responsibility for this latest abduction, but the pattern is depressingly familiar.
Over the past decade, at least 1,500 students have been seized in northern Nigeria, a grim tally that began with the infamous 2014 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping by Boko Haram. Since then, mass abductions have become a tragically common tactic. “Let’s say people have been kidnapped in the markets—it doesn’t go far, or if people have been kidnapped on the road—it doesn’t go far,” explained Oluwole Ojewale, a security analyst at the Institute for Security Studies, to AP. “What gains traction is when (it is) strategic kidnapping, like school children.”
The government’s response has been swift, at least in rhetoric. President Bola Tinubu, in a statement released late Tuesday, expressed regret that “heartless terrorists have disrupted the education of innocent schoolgirls” and promised intensified rescue efforts. He has directed security agencies to act quickly and bring the girls home. “We share in the pain of the affected families and are working urgently to rescue the girls,” said Information Minister Mohammed Idris Malagi, as reported by BBC News Africa. President Tinubu, however, is scheduled to leave for South Africa to attend the Group of 20 summit, underscoring the competing demands on his leadership.
On the ground, the search has expanded to include not only federal security forces but also local vigilantes and hunters familiar with the terrain. Kebbi Governor Nasir Idris visited the school on the day of the attack, promising every effort would be made to rescue the abducted girls. Despite these assurances, frustration and anger simmer among residents. Dan Juma Umar, a local civil society leader, told AP that residents had alerted security operatives about “suspicious movements” three days before the attack. “Had they acted on the information we provided, this tragedy could have been avoided,” he said.
Families of the victims are left to grapple with uncertainty. The daughter of the slain security guard told BBC that her own daughter and granddaughter were among those taken. “I found him in his pool of blood. Then they took my daughter and also my granddaughter,” she said, her voice heavy with grief. Another parent, Usman Muhammad, whose daughter narrowly escaped, said his trust in authorities would only be restored if all the remaining girls were rescued. “Until the authorities in charge secure the release of the girls still in captivity, we cannot feel at ease,” he told AP.
The persistent insecurity in northern Nigeria is blamed by analysts and residents alike on rampant corruption, the failure to prosecute attackers, and porous borders that allow for steady weapons supplies to criminal gangs. These conditions have left communities vulnerable and security forces often outgunned. As Senator Iroegbu, a security analyst, noted to AP, “Intelligence efforts should be prioritized to locate the abductors without endangering the girls. If contact is established, negotiation—likely involving ransom—may be necessary.”
For now, the people of Maga wait, hoping for the safe return of their daughters and for a day when the threat of violence no longer hangs over their schools. The trauma of this attack, like so many before it, lingers—etched in the memories of families, etched in the empty dormitories, and etched in the urgent pleas for action echoing across Nigeria.
