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Nigeria says more schoolchildren have been kidnapped in the country’s volatile north.
It is not immediately clear who is to blame for the latest seizure in Kebbi State, an act that defines insecurity and has painful consequences in Africa’s most populous country. Kidnappers in the past include boko haram The insurgency that led to the mass kidnapping of 276 people Chibok The schoolgirls brought the extremist group to global attention a decade ago. But groups of bandits are also active.
At least 1,500 students have been captured in the years since that Chibok attack. Here’s what to know about northern Nigeria’s widespread insecurity that affects children and adults – and Christians and Muslims – alike.
Boko Haram and A Islamic State associated
Boko Haram has long threatened large parts of Nigeria’s north, especially the north-east, as well as parts of neighboring Cameroon, Niger and Chad. The militant group has sought to impose an Islamic state on the region and its name – meaning “books are forbidden” – rejects Western education.
In 2014, Boko Haram burst onto the global stage with the Chibok kidnapping. Four years later, its fighters abducted 110 schoolgirls from a college in Yobe state, in the northeast.
The militants have made a strong resurgence this year after divisions in the past, with many fighters now aligned with a local affiliate of Islamic State. The exact number of fighters in each group is unknown, although they are estimated to be in the thousands.
The groups continue to recruit, sometimes forcibly, youth who have been left vulnerable in an area where Nigerian authorities and humanitarian organizations struggle to safely serve. The Trump administration’s deep cuts to foreign aid to Nigeria this year haven’t helped.
kidnapping for ransom
Other armed groups in northern Nigeria carry out kidnappings for ransom on a large scale. Authorities have said they mostly include former herders who took up arms against farming communities after clashes escalated tensions over limited resources.
Schools have been a popular target of bandits, who are motivated more by money than religious beliefs. The attacks often occur at night, with gunmen sometimes arriving on motorcycles or even dressed in military uniforms and then disappearing into the vast, under-policed landscape.
There is growing concern about links between bandits and militant groups, particularly in the northwest.
“Despite often being associated with extremist Islamic groups, bandits operating in north-western Nigeria are a clear driver of instability in the region,” the US-backed Africa The Center for Strategic Studies said earlier this year that the bandits were responsible for almost the same number of deaths there as Boko Haram and IS affiliates in the northeast.
In 2020, gunmen on motorcycles attacked a government secondary school in Katsina state and abducted more than 300 boys. The state government announced their release within weeks. In 2021, gunmen abducted more than 300 schoolgirls in a night-time raid on a government secondary boarding school in Zamfara state. Within a few weeks, everyone was released after an apparent ransom was paid.
And in 2024, gunmen on motorcycles abducted 287 students at a government secondary school in Kaduna state.
Nigeria’s security challenges
Nigeria has struggled for years to fight Boko Haram and other armed groups, sometimes attacking and killing civilians in airstrikes mistaken for militants. The army has also launched air strikes and special operations targeting hideouts of armed gangs.
But in recent months Islamic militants have repeatedly seized military posts, mined roads with bombs and attacked civilian communities, despite the army claiming success against them. The increase in activity has strained security efforts across the north of Nigeria.
Last month, President Bola Tinubu replaced the country’s security chiefs.
Earlier this year, the US government approved an arms sale worth $346 million to strengthen Nigeria’s fight against insurgents and criminal groups. However, recently, President donald trump have threatened Nigeria with possible military action – and withheld all aid and assistance – while alleging that the Nigerian government has failed to rein in its persecution of Christians. Nigeria has rejected the claim.