25 Kebbi schoolgirls taken before dawn - Here is how it all happened

Kebbi woke up to fear on Monday November 17, 2025. Armed men stormed Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, in the northwest Nigerian state, before sunrise and took twenty-five students into the forest. The attack felt like a replay of Nigeria’s darkest nightmares, another school hit, another community grieving, another set of young girls stolen.

A Vice Principal Killed Defending His Students

Residents say the attackers moved in around 5 a.m., heading straight for the girls’ hostel. The school’s thin security presence collapsed quickly.
Vice Principal Malam Hassan Makuku was shot dead at close range while trying to shield the students. Locals reported more bodies around the school, though the full count remains unclear.

By 8 a.m., air force jets circled overhead and security teams sealed the area, but the girls were already gone.

Police Confirm the Abduction

Kebbi Police spokesperson CSP Nafiu Abubakar said the attackers scaled the school fence, shot their way in, and took twenty-five students. Tactical units responded, but the gunmen had already disappeared into the bush.

Tinubu Condemns Attack, Orders Rescue Operation

President Bola Tinubu called the abduction a “wicked assault” on children and ordered security and intelligence units to begin a full search-and-rescue mission. He insisted that recovering the girls and punishing the attackers “remains a solemn responsibility of the state.”

But online, frustration exploded. Nigerians asked why every statement sounds like the one before it, outrage, promises, and little change on the ground.

Atiku: “Nigeria Cannot Continue on This Path”

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said he was devastated by the killing of Makuku and the abduction of the students. He linked this attack to the broader wave of violence sweeping the country, from Zamfara to Plateau to Benue — warning that insecurity has reached “intolerable levels.”

He called for an urgent overhaul of Nigeria’s security architecture, saying citizens “deserve protection, dignity, and peace.”

Kebbi Government Calls Abduction ‘Barbaric’

Governor Nasir Idris visited the scene and condemned the kidnapping as “devilish” and “barbaric.” His team urged residents to stay calm and support ongoing efforts to recover the girls.

A Crisis with No End in Sight

Nigeria’s northwest has become the epicentre of mass abductions carried out by armed groups who raid villages, kill civilians, and take hostages for ransom. Kidnappings have become an industry, one that thrives on weak security networks and slow state response.

Since the Chibok abductions in 2014, thousands of children have been taken from schools nationwide. As UNICEF notes, more than 6,800 children have been victims of grave violations in the northeast alone since 2014.

A Nation Running Out of Excuses

The abduction in Maga is a grim reminder of how fragile the safety of schoolchildren remains. Twenty-five girls are somewhere in the forest tonight. Twenty-five families are living a nightmare they did not choose.

And the country is left staring at the same question: How many more children must be taken before Nigeria finally draws the line?