Security
Human Rights Watch Condemns Alarming Nigeria Kidnappings
Human Rights Watch warns Nigeria after mass school abductions, urging urgent action to protect students amid rising Nigeria school kidnappings.
New York, United States – November 25, 2025: Human Rights Watch has urged Nigerian authorities to secure the immediate release of students and teachers kidnapped in recent attacks across the country’s northwest, warning that the surge in abductions reveals a dangerous escalation in the nation’s security crisis.
Also read: #EndSARS A Movement For Human Rights And Good Governance- CDHR
According to the organisation, unidentified armed men kidnapped 25 schoolgirls from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, on November 18.
Just three days later, 303 students and 12 teachers were abducted from St Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Niger State.
Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch Anietie Ewang described the incidents as a deliberate assault on children and learning environments, saying the mass kidnappings expose the government’s continued inability to protect vulnerable communities.
Ewang said the deepening crisis highlights a failure to implement safeguards despite repeated warnings over school insecurity.
No group has claimed responsibility, though Nigeria has faced relentless attacks by armed criminal groups known locally as bandits.
The situation has grown more volatile after the al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims claimed its first incursion into Nigerian territory following an attack on a military patrol in Kwara State in late October.
Parents of the kidnapped girls in Kebbi State told Human Rights Watch that security had been absent at the time of the attack, despite earlier warnings of possible bandit activity.
One father, Isa Nazifi, whose 13-year-old daughter Khadija was abducted, said he would not return home without her.
Another parent, Malam Sani Zimri, said confidence created by earlier military surveillance quickly collapsed when no security personnel were present during the three-hour raid.
Nigeria continues to struggle with the legacy of school attacks dating back to the 2014 Chibok abductions, with repeated mass kidnappings in Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and Niger States over the last decade.
Human Rights Watch said the authorities have not implemented effective early-warning systems or preventive structures, despite these patterns.
President Bola Tinubu has directed security agencies to act swiftly and appealed for local intelligence support.
The government has also shut down dozens of federal schools, while several states have suspended or restricted academic activities.
Human Rights Watch warned that without alternative learning measures, thousands of children risk long-term educational and emotional setbacks.
Nigeria is a signatory to the Safe Schools Declaration, which requires increased protection for education during conflict.
The Senate has ordered a full investigation into the Safe School Fund following concerns over its impact.
Also read: Human Rights Group Petition Police Over Harassment, Abduction Of Journalist
Ewang said Nigerian authorities must prioritise the safe return of abducted students and ensure justice for those responsible, stressing that children should never fear going to school.
Governor Dauda Lawal has emphasised that bandits who refuse peace and threaten innocent people must face the full consequences of the law.
The Zamfara State Government hosted a three-day Northwest Security Summit organised by the Nigeria Police on Wednesday at the Government House, Gusau.
The Security Summit, themed ‘Appraising the Security Challenges in the Northwest Region’, was honoured by the presence of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Rilwan Disu.
The summit brought together the leadership of the Nigeria Police, representatives of the Northwest States, heads of security and intelligence agencies, traditional rulers, community leaders, and civil society organisations.
While declaring the summit open, Governor Lawal commended the Inspector-General of Police and the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force for convening the summit and for choosing Zamfara State as the host.
He said, “This is significant because Zamfara remains at the frontline of the security challenges confronting the Northwest. It provides an appropriate setting for an honest assessment of our challenges and, more importantly, the development of practical solutions.
“The Northwest’s security crisis exceeds isolated crimes. Organised networks conduct banditry, kidnapping, and cattle rustling across borders, threatening livelihoods, food security, education, investment, and the social fabric. The summit also highlights urban threats such as thuggery, substance abuse, and radical infiltration.
“This reality demands moving beyond fragmented responses because criminal networks ignore state boundaries. Our security must operate cohesively. Intelligence in Zamfara can prevent attacks elsewhere, and operations nearby can disrupt threats in Zamfara.
“Accordingly, the Northwest needs stronger mechanisms for real-time intelligence sharing, coordinated operations, inter-state surveillance, community policing, and sustained disruption of the financial, logistical and supply networks that sustain organised crime.”
The governor added that the summit represents some of the finest operational, intelligence and strategic experience within the Nigeria Police Force and the security ecosystem.
“We must, therefore, challenge ourselves to leave Gusau not merely with another diagnosis of insecurity, but with actionable options.
“I urge this summit to consider practical measures to cut off criminal networks’ supply chains and limit their movement. Criminal enterprises rely on logistics including routes, markets, intermediaries, financiers, and networks.
“We must confront operational questions: How do we disrupt supply chains? How do we limit criminals’ mobility across forests, communities, and borders? How do we strengthen control over vulnerable corridors without harming legitimate commerce? And how do we identify and dismantle networks of informants and facilitators enabling crime?”
Earlier, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Rilwan Disu, said that the security of the Northwest is a collective responsibility because the region is of enormous importance to Nigeria.
“We are combining states to tackle the issue of insecurity. We have come together, we police together, we share intelligence together. We have made up our minds to take the fight to these criminals. We have made up our minds to do this; that is why we summoned this summit.”
“As Inspector-General of Police, I assure you that the Nigeria Police Force will continue to deploy its capabilities, personnel and partnerships towards securing the region and supporting the efforts of State Governments and other security agencies. But we also recognise that policing is most effective when it is supported by the people.”
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