Almost 600 schoolchildren have been kidnapped in various coordinated mass abductions perpetrated by bandits and Boko Haram terrorists since President Bola Tinubu assumed office three years ago.
Per reported cases of school abductions since May 29, 2023, the Peoples Gazette’s checks showed that 597 schoolchildren and students have been abducted under Mr Tinubu’s watch.
Mass abductions of schoolchildren predated Mr Tinubu’s presidency. The miasma began with the 2014 kidnapping of Chibok schoolgirls in Borno under former President Goodluck Jonathan, and continued under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
In 2023, after May 29, when Mr Tinubu assumed office, four major school attacks were recorded, resulting in the deaths of 179 students. The school attack in 2023 included five students abducted from Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina, and 22 students abducted from Federal University Gusau, Zamfara.
In 2023, 137 schoolchildren of LEA Primary and Secondary School, Kuriga, in Kaduna and 15 schoolchildren of Sokoto Islamic boarding, Gidan Bakuso, Sokoto, were kidnapped.
On April 26, 2024, 26 students of Darul Kitab Islamic Orphanage and School, Kogi, were abducted by bandits, while on November 17, 2025, 25 schoolgirls were abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi.
On November 21, 2025, bandits raided St Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, Niger, abducting 315 schoolchildren and staff, while on May 6, 2026, six students of Federal University, Lafia, Nasarawa were taken hostage.
While the 46 students and staff abducted on May 15 from Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, Community Grammar School, Esiele, and L.A. Primary School, Oyo state, are languishing in a terrorist den, other abducted students have been freed.
In sum, the number of reported schoolchildren and students abducted in the past three years amounts to 597. This shows that an average of 199 students were abducted every year since Mr Tinubu assumed office.
In his speech to mark his third year in office, Mr Tinubu admitted that insecurity remains a major challenge, but his government is determined to tackle the menace.
“Security remains central to our national mission and to the creation of a virile and prosperous society. Our armed forces and security agencies have intensified operations against terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, oil thieves, and criminal networks. While challenges remain, many communities and highways are becoming safer and more economically active,” Mr Tinubu said.
The president also promised to rescue the abducted Oyo students and school staff in his Children’s Day speech.
Oluwatoba Elegbeleye, a professor of Psychology at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun, described incessant attacks on schools as a “humanitarian concern, sheer wickedness, dastardly act, aimed at installing fear in people’s hearts.
“It shows that there is a breakdown of law and order. It brings to the fore that the people governing us are weaklings. They have limited wisdom to protect us because they are more reactive than anticipatory. They don’t plan ahead,” Mr Elegbeleye said.
Citing the recent Oyo schoolchildren abduction, Mr Elegbeleye added, “That these things are happening exposes poor governance and policies. In a more policy-concentrated system, they would have anticipated all these.”
