Predawn Raid on Nigerian School Leaves 25 Girls Abducted, Staffer Dead

A predawn attack on a boarding school in northwestern 🇳🇬Nigeria left 25 schoolgirls abducted, one staff member dead, and another wounded, marking the latest in a series of increasingly brazen kidnappings targeting the country’s northern region.

According to The Associated Press, the assault took place around 4 a.m. Monday at a girls’ boarding school in Maga, located in Kebbi state’s Danko-Wasagu area. Police said the gunmen stormed the dormitories armed with “sophisticated weapons,” opening fire on school guards before seizing the students.

Police spokesperson Nafi’u Abubakar Kotarkoshi confirmed the attack and said security forces were mobilized within hours.

“A combined team is currently combing suspected escape routes and surrounding forests in a coordinated search and rescue operation aimed at recovering the abducted students and arresting the perpetrators,” Kotarkoshi said.

No group has claimed responsibility, and investigators have not identified a clear motive. Unlike Boko Haram or Islamic State West Africa Province — groups whose violence is driven by extremist ideology — the armed bandits who dominate this region operate for one primary purpose: ransom.

These loosely organized criminal groups have evolved into one of the most persistent threats in 🇳🇬Nigeria’s northwest. Their operations range from village raids to highway ambushes, and kidnapping students has become a lucrative tactic, often generating ransom payments in the thousands of dollars.