The assault on Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga is the second major school kidnapping in Kebbi in four years. Security forces have widened a day-and-night operation across forests and road corridors frequently used by armed groups.

Parents and residents gathered at the school on Tuesday, learning that two girls had escaped, while officials warned the search may extend across state borders.

Early-Morning Raid on Maga

Police said the armed men arrived on motorcycles around 04:00 local time (03:00 GMT), exchanged gunfire with officers, scaled the perimeter fence, and killed the school’s vice principal before abducting 25 girls. Most students at the school, including those taken, are Muslim, officials said.

A resident, Nazifi Isa, said he rushed to the compound after dawn prayers and discovered one of his two daughters was missing. “Since yesterday, we haven’t eaten, and my wife is in tears,” he said, describing the family’s distress.

Military Orders Intensified Operations

Army chief Lieutenant-General Waidi Shaibu flew to Kebbi hours after the attack and instructed troops to pursue the abductors continuously. “We must find these children. Act decisively and professionally on all intelligence. Success is not optional,” he told soldiers. Governor Nasir Idris also visited, pledging continued rescue efforts.

Security teams swept nearby forests on Tuesday while additional units secured major roads leading out of Maga. Authorities said the operation had expanded in response to reports of kidnappers moving across rural routes.

Growing Insecurity Across the Northwest

The kidnapping came as local media reported that another armed gang abducted 64 people in neighboring Zamfara State on Monday. Separately, ISWAP said its fighters abducted and executed a Nigerian army general over the weekend, intensifying pressure on counterinsurgency forces.

Nigeria has faced increased scrutiny from the United States after President Donald Trump threatened military action over alleged persecution of Christians by Boko Haram and ISWAP. Nigerian officials rejected the claim, saying insecurity has killed more Muslims nationwide.

Echoes of the Chibok Trauma

The raid recalls the April 14, 2014 abduction of 276 Chibok girls, a defining event after which at least 1,500 students have been kidnapped across the country. Kebbi itself witnessed a major attack in June 2021, when more than 100 students and staff were seized and later released in batches over two years, with some returning from forced marriages.

Parents in Maga waited in the school courtyard on Tuesday, hoping for news as search teams widened the grid across Kebbi and bordering forests.