Maga student abduction: Tinubu, double down on insecurity!

 

For the umpteenth time, Nigeria is in the news for the wrong reasons. The abduction of 25 school children took place in Maga, Kebbi State, on November 17, 2025. Same day news filtered that Brigadier General M. Uba was killed over the weekend by Islamic State West Africa Province fighters after the terrorists reportedly intercepted and tracked his location along the Damboa–Biu axis in Borno State. Though insurgency and insecurity did not start under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, it has worsened if statistics is anything to go by. Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution says in section 14(2)(b) that the security and welfare of citizens shall be the primary purpose of government. Can we, in good conscience, affirm the presence of these two across the country?

Before looking at current statistics on insecurity, let me bring you up to speed on the diary of mass abduction of school children in the last 11 years in Nigeria. According to online sources, timelines of abductions from 2014 to date are as follows:

On February 25, 2014, 59 boys were killed at the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi in Yobe State, Nigeria. The 24 buildings of the school were also burned down as a result of the attack.

On April 14, 2014, in Chibok, Borno State, Boko Haram militants abducted 276 female students aged 16 to 18 from the Government Girls Secondary School.  As of April 2024, more than 80 of the girls remained missing. The incident sparked the global #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

On February 19, 2018, in Dapchi, Yobe State, 110 schoolgirls were kidnapped by a Boko Haram faction from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College. Within a month, 104 girls were released after negotiations. Five of their schoolmates reportedly died in captivity. One girl, Leah Sharibu, a Christian who reportedly refused to convert to Islam, remains in captivity.

On December 11, 2020, in Kankara, Katsina State, more than 300 boys were abducted from the Government Science Secondary School by gunmen on motorcycles. The boys were released within a week following talks with government officials. Responsibility was initially claimed by Boko Haram, but later attributed to local criminal gangs.

On February 17, 2021, in Kagara, Niger State, suspected bandits abducted 27 students and 15 others (staff and family members) from the Government Science College. The victims were later released after negotiations with the abductors.

On February 26, 2021, in Jangebe, Zamfara State, 317 female students were kidnapped from the Government Girls Secondary School in an early morning raid.  All were released a few weeks later.

On April 20, 2021, at least 20 students and 2 staff were kidnapped in Kasarami village, Chikun LGA, Kaduna State, during an attack by suspected armed bandits at Greenfield University.

On June 17, 2021, in Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State, bandits kidnapped 80 schoolchildren and five teachers from the Federal Government College. Some students were rescued, but many remained in captivity for months.

On March 7, 2024, in Kuriga, Kaduna State, gunmen abducted students and teachers from the primary and secondary schools in the Kuriga community. All 137 students accounted for by authorities were released unharmed on March 24, 2024, after spending 17 days in captivity.

Lastly, on November 17, 2025, 25 female students of Maga Secondary School were abducted, the vice principal was killed, and another person was shot in the hand.

Out of the 10 aforementioned incidents, only two occurred during Tinubu’s presidency. It is also important to note that female students have suffered more abductions than their male counterparts. These mass abductions pose a serious threat to the ‘Education for All’ policy of the government and are bound to worsen the number of ‘out-of-school’ children.  The question is: What has happened to the safe-school initiative of the previous government? Obviously, that policy has been abandoned. I pray that the abducted Maga students will be rescued from their abductors unhurt and reunited with their families. There’s no gainsaying the fact that those responsible for these abductions do it more for pecuniary reasons than for ideological or political purposes.

Online sources reported that statistics on insecurity under the Tinubu administration indicate a worsening trend, with data from organisations like ACLED and Global Rights reporting thousands of deaths and abductions between May 2023 and mid-2025. While specific figures vary by source and timeframe, key indicators suggest continued challenges, including high numbers of killings and abductions, particularly in the North, and the persistence of various forms of violence across the country. ACLED reported 7,472 deaths and 12,584 abductions by terror groups between May 29, 2023, and May 19, 2025, while Global Rights recorded at least 4,416 civilian deaths and 3,238 abductions in the first year alone (May 29, 2023 – April 23, 2024), along with 262 security personnel killed. It’s noteworthy that Nigeria is placed sixth in the globe among terrorised countries by the 2025 Global Terrorism Index, with a score of 7.658.

The way forward out of this security quagmire lies in the President’s having to double down on insecurity. As I advised in my column of November 5, 2025, titled “CPC listing: Tinubu, solve Nigeria’s insecurity!”, the President should incentivise our armed forces to perform their tasks better. While he is right to have rejigged the service chiefs, the troubling situation in the country needs more than tokenism. Our armed forces need lethal weapons, hi-tech security gadgets, such as satellite surveillance and all-weather drones, CCTV cameras, forensic laboratories, etc. The National Assembly also has to expedite work on the constitutional alteration to establish state police. Nigeria’s security challenges cannot be solved by a centralised policing system.

Something must be done to rein in and interdict the free flow of small arms and light weapons circulating across Nigeria. Judiciary (lawyers and judges) should fasten the prosecution of arrested terrorists being prosecuted.

I will recommend that terrorists be prosecuted by a special tribunal rather than a normal court, where cases go on ad infinitum.

I appreciate the fact that the President has declared a state of emergency on the training institutions of Nigeria’s security agencies, especially the police. That’s a step in the right direction. However, I will implore that the President should set up an armed corps of retired security personnel (armed forces, police, DSS, etc.) who would be a volunteer corps that will complement serving military and police officers to tackle insecurity around the country.

It is also high time to seek help from foreign countries that can donate equipment, technical services, forensic laboratories and communication gadgets to assist Nigeria to overcome this threat to our dear country.  Lastly, there should be improved governance and delivery of democracy dividends to ease the rising cost of living, which is pushing many Nigerians into crime.

I.G @jideojong