The assault marks the country’s first mass school abduction since March 2024, when more than 200 pupils were taken in Kaduna State, reigniting fears about the safety of students in rural communities.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information announced that a rescue team has been deployed, while the Governor of Kebbi State, Dr Nasir Idris, moved swiftly to reassure families that efforts were already in motion to recover the girls. But security specialist Dr Aigbe Diyeli, a Criminologist and Lecturer at Caleb University in Lagos, warned that the country’s response remains largely reactive rather than preventive.

Speaking to Channel Africa on Tuesday, Diyeli noted that school abductions have become a recurring pattern over the past decade, from the Chibok girls in 2014 to attacks in Dapchi, Kankara and Kaduna. He argued that Nigeria’s law enforcement agencies are overstretched and facing “battle fatigue”, leaving gaps that armed groups are exploiting. “Where are the law enforcement agencies?” he asked. “Our system is strained, and the bandits have become more audacious.”

Diyeli also questioned how the abductors managed to move dozens of children through multiple checkpoints unnoticed, describing it as a failure of “visibility policing”. Despite government assurances, he insisted that authorities must embrace technology, including drones and digital tracking tools, to strengthen search operations and deter future attacks.

He warned that the resurgence of school kidnappings sends dangerous signals ahead of the country’s 2027 elections, heightening fear among communities already traumatised by years of insecurity. Opposition parties, he added, are likely to seize on these incidents to challenge the government’s credibility on public safety.

With the manhunt ongoing and the fate of the abducted schoolgirls still unknown, families in Kebbi State and across Nigeria are once again left waiting, and hoping, for a swift rescue.

–ChannelAfrica–