SAVE the Children International has condemned Monday’s abduction of 25 female students from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in the Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, describing the attack as another painful reminder of the worsening insecurity threatening education across northern Nigeria.
News Point Nigeria armed men reportedly stormed the school around 1am on November 17, 2025, killing a school staff member and injuring another before whisking the girls away to an unknown location.
The abduction marks the first major school kidnapping since March 2024, when over 200 pupils were taken from Kuriga, Kaduna State.
In a statement sent to News Point Nigeria on Wednesday, Save the Children lamented the resurgence of school attacks in the northwest, an area that has witnessed some of the most violent incidents targeting children in recent years.
“This horrific attack underscores the persistent threats to education in Nigeria, especially in the Northwest where children, particularly girls, continue to face violence and insecurity,” the organisation said.
Duncan Harvey, Save the Children’s Country Director in Nigeria, described the incident as a direct violation of children’s rights as guaranteed under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Nigerian Child Rights Act.
“We all have a collective responsibility to ensure that children, regardless of their circumstances, can fulfil this right,” Harvey said. “Schools should never be places of fear.”
The organisation called on both the Federal Government and the Kebbi State Government to take urgent and decisive action to rescue the abducted schoolgirls and ensure justice for the affected families.
It also urged authorities to strengthen security around schools, particularly in high-risk regions, through early warning systems, community-based surveillance, and rapid-response mechanisms.
Save the Children further highlighted the need for full implementation of the National Policy on Safety, Security, and Violence-Free Schools, as well as the Minimum Standards for Safe Schools, in order to rebuild confidence in Nigeria’s educational system.
The group stressed that addressing insecurity requires long-term investment in poverty reduction, youth empowerment, and improved governance structures to tackle the root causes of violence.
Citing data from its comprehensive report Education Under Attack in Nigeria, the organisation revealed that between February 2014 and December 2022, at least 70 school attacks were recorded nationwide, 49 of them in the northwest.
These incidents resulted in the abduction of 1,683 learners, the killing of 184 students, and the destruction of 25 school buildings.
It warned that despite a slight decline in school-related attacks in the past two years, the latest kidnapping shows that the danger remains real and urgent.
“The urgency to act cannot be overstated,” the group said. “Education is not a privilege; it is a fundamental right. Government, communities, and partners must unite to make every school a safe and protected place for learning. No child should pay for education with their life.”
