Nigeria is facing a surge in mass abductions, with recent attacks targeting schools and religious gatherings across multiple states. the escalating violence, which includes the kidnapping of over 200 students from a Catholic school in Niger State this week, is raising fears for civilian safety and prompting international condemnation [[2]]. These incidents are occurring against a backdrop of broader insecurity in the region, as Nigeria continues to grapple with extremist groups and opportunistic criminal violence [[3]].
A wave of abductions targeting students and religious communities is escalating in Nigeria, raising international concern about the country’s security situation. The latest incident, a mass kidnapping at a Catholic school, underscores a pattern of violence that has plagued the nation for years.
The attack occurred between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Monday, November 13th, at St. Mary Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Niger State. A large group, reportedly traveling in around sixty vehicles – cars and motorcycles – stormed the school grounds and targeted the student dormitories, attempting to abduct as many people as possible. A security guard was seriously injured during the assault, according to the Diocese of Kontagora, which first reported the incident.
Initial reports from Arise News suggested 52 students were taken, but other sources indicate the number of abductees exceeds 200. The perpetrators fled towards nearby forest areas, a common tactic in these types of attacks.
“We express our deep concern for the safety of the kidnapped children and their families,” a statement from the Diocese of Kontagora read. Authorities were immediately notified, and a coordinated effort to secure the hostages’ release is underway.
Police and military units have been deployed to “comb the forests and rescue the abducted students,” officials said. The area surrounding the school borders Kebbi State, where 25 students – predominantly Muslim – were abducted from another secondary school last week, with one student managing to escape. On the same day, 64 people, including women and children, were kidnapped from their homes in Zamfara State.
Further compounding the crisis, a Pentecostal church in Eruku, Kwara State, was attacked during a livestreamed service on Tuesday, November 14th, resulting in the deaths of two worshippers and the abduction of 38 others. According to a community leader, the attackers are demanding ransoms equivalent to $69,000 per person. Authorities in Kwara State have since ordered the closure of several schools as a precautionary measure.
The recent surge in violence appears concentrated along the dividing line between the predominantly Muslim north and the largely Christian south of Nigeria. However, experts caution against drawing definitive connections between each incident, given the country’s complex ethnic and religious landscape, with a population of 230 million people belonging to roughly 200 different ethnic groups.
According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a U.S.-based independent research organization, Nigeria has already recorded 1,923 attacks against civilians resulting in over 3,000 deaths this year. This highlights a growing trend of opportunistic violence driven by extortion, with schools being particularly vulnerable targets.
These abductions are occurring alongside ongoing violence perpetrated by jihadist groups like Boko Haram, which was blamed for an ambush on Monday that killed ten people – including nine local security volunteers and one farmer – in the northeastern district of Gwoza, near the border with Cameroon.
In response to the escalating crisis, President Bola Tinubu, a Muslim of Yoruba ethnicity, has canceled his planned trip to South Africa for the G20 summit. International condemnation of the violence has been swift, including a statement from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“We firmly condemn the renewed violence against Christian communities in Nigeria,” Meloni said. “Religious freedom is an inviolable right. We ask the Nigerian government to strengthen the protection of Christian communities and all religious communities and to prosecute those responsible for these heinous attacks. Italy expresses its full solidarity with the victims and the communities in Nigeria who today feel endangered because of their religious beliefs.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani echoed these sentiments, stating, “What is happening today in Nigeria against Christians is unacceptable and deeply painful. The systematic nature of the persecution is unacceptable: the violence against Christian communities perpetrated by extremist groups must end immediately. We urgently ask the Nigerian authorities to intervene to ensure security, justice and protection for religious minorities living under the constant threat of violence.”
