Two Nigerian Schoolgirls Escape Kidnap Ordeal as Search for Others Continues

Fri Dec 05 2025 06:50:14 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

In a distressing incident in Kebbi state, two schoolgirls manage to escape from armed kidnappers. Authorities are actively searching for the remaining captives.

Two girls have escaped from kidnappers who abducted them along with 25 others from a school in Kebbi state, Nigeria. While one required medical treatment after fleeing, the search for the remaining captives continues, highlighting the ongoing crisis of school abductions in the region.

Two girls, who were among at least 25 children and a teacher kidnapped from their boarding school in north-western Nigeria's Kebbi state on Monday, have managed to escape, a local official told the BBC.

The pair ran away as their armed captors were leading them into the bushes and got away across farmland, Hussaini Aliyu of Danko Wasagu council said. He added that the girls were back and are safe, but one of them needed medical treatment as she had hurt her leg while fleeing.

The assault left two members of staff dead - a teacher was killed while trying to protect girls and a security guard later died in hospital from gunshot wounds.

A team of soldiers, police and volunteers are combing forested areas in an attempt to rescue the captives seized by the gunmen. You must continue day and night fighting. We must find these children, Maj Gen Waidi Shaibu, Nigeria's army chief of staff, told troops sent to Kebbi state.

Over the past decade, schools in northern Nigeria have become frequent targets for armed groups, who often carry out abductions to seek ransom payments or leverage deals with the government.

Parents face an agonising wait. One inconsolable father, whose daughter is still being held captive, told BBC Hausa that his family had been crying non-stop and it's hard to go back home and look at their faces. He said he had two daughters enrolled at the school; one was able to hide from the attackers, but the other was not so fortunate.

Police say the gunmen, described locally as bandits, invaded the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town at about 04:00 (03:00 GMT) on Monday. The attackers engaged police personnel on duty in a gun duel before climbing over the perimeter fence and taking the girls from their hostel.

The security guard who died had a granddaughter and great-granddaughter at the same school and they are among those kidnapped. His daughter described the devastation of the family, noting she found him in a pool of blood shortly before the kidnappers took her daughter and granddaughter.

The attack highlights the persistent security crisis plaguing the region, leaving families in a state of fear. Nigeria's central government has expressed deep concern over the abductions, insisting they share in the pain of the affected families and are urgently working to rescue the girls. Information Minister Mohammed Idris Malagi assured that President Bola Tinubu remains committed to protecting every Nigerian, especially schoolchildren.