End the 11-Year Nightmare of School Abductions

#BringBackOurGirls

Monday, November 24, 2025

OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU

PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Abuja

Press Statement

End the 11-Year Nightmare of School Abductions – Act Now to Rescue Kebbi Girls and Secure Our Schools

Dear Mr President,

Bring Back Our Girls Global (BBOG Global), a coalition of advocates from across the world, writes with urgency and outrage following the horrific attack on our children and our institutions of learning. On Friday, November 21, 2025, 303 students and 12 teachers were abducted from  St Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, Papiri, Agwarra LGA, Niger State. This attack, one of the largest mass kidnappings in our history, underscores a terrifying trend of lawlessness and vulnerability in our schools. While we acknowledge that fifty students have escaped, the fact remains that hundreds are still in captivity, and families are living in anguish. 

This followed the abduction of 25 schoolgirls and one watchman from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School (GGCSS), Maga, Danko/Wasagu LGA, Kebbi State. The attack, carried out in the early hours of Monday, November 17, 2025, also led to the tragic killing of the school’s Vice Principal, Mallam Hassan Makuku (50 years), who was shot while attempting to protect his students from the armed assailants. While one student and the watchman escaped, the remaining girls are still in captivity. Additionally, Ali Maga (45 years) was shot in the leg and is receiving treatment at General Hospital, Zuru.

This has led to the closure of schools in several states, including Nigeria, Katsina and Plateau, while all Federal Government Colleges have been closed.  Thousands of children will lose their right to education, especially in Nigeria’s most educationally challenged region.

These atrocities are not isolated tragedies – they are part of a systemic failure spanning over 11 years. Since the Chibok abduction of 276 girls in April 2014, Nigeria has witnessed at least 1,800 students kidnapped in a relentless cycle of terror. The pattern is clear:

1. Chibok (2014): 276 abducted, 90 still held.
2. Dapchi (2018): 110 abducted, 104 returned, 1 killed.
3. Kankara (2020): 344 abducted.
4. Jangebe (2021): 317 abducted.
5. Bethel Baptist (2021): 153 abducted, 125 still held.
6. Kuriga (2024): 287 abducted.
7. Maga (2025): 25 abducted.
8. St Mary’s Catholic School (2025): 315 abducted, 253 still held.

These numbers signify the horror these young girls have endured while the government carries on as if nothing has happened.  These numbers are not statistics – they represent children robbed of their futures, families shattered, and communities living in perpetual fear. 

Many Chibok girls remain in captivity, forced into marriages with their abductors, subjected to sexual violence, and denied basic human dignity. Survivors who returned face stigma and trauma without adequate rehabilitation. Chibok and other targeted communities remain scarred and vulnerable. There have been over one hundred attacks on Chibok since 2014, and many of these targeted communities remain under constant and ongoing attacks. This is unacceptable.

President Tinubu, schools must never be battlegrounds. Education is a right, not a death sentence. Yet, despite billions allocated and initiatives launched – Safe Schools Initiative (2014), Safe Schools Declaration (2015) – implementation has failed. Today, 80% of schools remain unsafe, and only 37% have early warning systems. Negotiating with criminals only emboldens, and our children continue to pay the price.

We demand urgent, decisive action—not just reactive measures, but a comprehensive strategy to secure our schools, dismantle these criminal networks, and restore faith in the government’s ability to protect its citizens. Every day of delay deepens the wound and erodes the trust of Nigerians in their leadership.

We acknowledge the deployment of the RightNow Female Squad of the NSCDC and other tactical units, as well as joint operations with security agencies and vigilante groups. However, words and partial measures are not enough. We demand immediate and decisive action:

1. Rescue the abducted Kebbi schoolgirls, St Mary’s Catholic Church School students and teachers, and all others still in captivity – NOW.
2. STOP negotiating with terrorists! They are criminals. What other evidence do you need?
3. Fully implement the Safe Schools Declaration with measurable timelines and transparency.
4. Prosecute those responsible for past failures and strengthen the security architecture nationwide.
5. Provide sustained psychosocial support and reintegration programs for survivors and affected communities.

This crisis has persisted for 11 years. It must end. The world is watching, and history will judge the choices you make today.
Bring Back Our Girls – ALL of them. End this cycle of abductions NOW. Enough is enough!

Signatories:

• Opeyemi Adamolekun, EiE Nigeria, Lagos
• Tehilah Eisenstadt, BBOG NY
• Habiba Balogun, BBOG Lagos
• Gapani Yanga,  BBOG ABUJA
  
• Nanre Nafziger, BBOG Global
• Allen Manasseh, BBOG Abuja
• Rose Wingate,  BBOG New Zealand
• Yolanda Preciados,  BBOG Italy
• Ayo Obe, BBOG Lagos
• Dr Allen Manasseh, BBOG Abuja
• Monday Ojon, Cemepia Africa, BBOG Lagos
• Ayodeji Kolawole, BBOG Lagos
• Babasola Olalere, BBOG Lagos

 #BringBackOurGirls       #SafeSchoolsNow          #EndSchoolAbductions