Kebbi school abduction: NANS condemns attack, demands rescue of abducted girls

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called for an immediate and decisive action from the federal government following the dawn attack on Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State, where gunmen killed the Vice Principal and abducted 25 female students.

The apex student body described the incident as a devastating assault on the nation’s conscience and a stark reminder of the worsening insecurity facing schools across the country.

In a statement released on Tuesday, NANS President, Olushola Oladoja, said the organisation was “deeply shattered and inconsolably heartbroken” by the attack, which occurred on November 17, the day the world marked International Students’ Day.

He said the tragedy had turned what was meant to be a day of celebration into one of national mourning.

The association said armed assailants invaded the school in the early hours, brutally killing the Vice Principal, Mr Hassan Yakubu Makuku, and whisking away 25 female students.

According to NANS, the killing and mass abduction “broke us beyond measure” and cast a dark cloud over a day intended to honour students’ resilience and the promise they represent.

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NANS disclosed that it had meticulously prepared a programme of awards and national recognitions to commemorate the 2025 International Students’ Day, aimed at celebrating academic excellence.

“Among these were cash prizes of N100,000 each for ten outstanding students from every faculty of the University of Abuja; a laptop prize for the best performers in the 2025 WAEC, NECO and JAMB examinations; and a N200,000 cash award for the Nigerian student who emerged winner of the TeenEagle International English Language Competition,” NANS said.

The association added that it had also planned additional recognitions for exceptional leadership and innovation among Nigerian students.

“Instead of celebration, the Nigerian student community was thrown into yet another panic,” the statement read.

NANS said the attack had reopened painful national memories of previous school kidnappings, including the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction and subsequent mass kidnappings in Katsina, Niger, Yobe and Kaduna States, notably in Kuriga, Kagara and Dapchi.

The association warned that the growing pattern of targeting schools, especially in northern Nigeria, underscored the urgent need for preventive security measures rather than the “usual reactive responses” that followed irreparable losses.

It stressed that schools must never be allowed to become “playgrounds for terrorists,” nor young girls turned into bargaining chips for criminal groups.

In outlining its demands, NANS condemned the attack “in the strongest possible terms” and called on the Federal Government, the Kebbi State Government and the entire Nigerian security architecture to deploy every available resource to ensure the immediate rescue of the abducted students.

It urged authorities to implement high-level, proactive security strategies around all schools, particularly girls’ boarding institutions, and to pursue intelligence-driven operations capable of dismantling the criminal networks behind such atrocities.

“Students, especially female students, must never be targets of terror. We cannot continue to allow young girls to be used as negotiation tools in the battle between the state and criminal elements. Enough is enough,” the statement added.

NANS extended its deepest condolences to the family of the slain Vice Principal, whom it described as having shown remarkable courage in resisting the attackers, a sacrifice that cost him his life.

It also wished a swift recovery to an injured staff member and expressed solidarity with the parents and families of the abducted students, assuring them that the entire Nigerian student community stood with them in prayer and grief.

The association said that on a day intended for global celebration of the power and promise of students, Nigeria’s student community was instead united in sorrow, resolve and a renewed commitment to ensuring the safety of every learner in the country.

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