WASHINGTON — A senior United States Senator has sharply criticized the Nigerian government for its inability to curb the wave of mass abductions targeting students, warning that the U.S. intends to hold Nigerian officials accountable for the safety of vulnerable citizens.
Senator Jim Risch, a ranking member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the rebuke in a statement on X (formerly Twitter), following a deadly attack on a girls’ school in Kebbi State earlier this week.
“Nigeria has long failed to protect its schoolchildren from jihadist and criminal abductions, and little has changed,” Risch wrote.
High-profile kidnappings for ransom have become a recurring crisis in Nigeria’s northwest and central regions, often targeting schools in remote areas. Risch emphasized that the U.S. remains focused on the human rights implications of the crisis.
“As the U.S. engages the Nigerian government on the persecution of its most vulnerable citizens, we will continue to hold them accountable,” he stated.
The Senator’s comments came in the wake of a Monday attack by gunmen on the Government Girls Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State. According to local authorities, armed men stormed the facility, abducting 25 students.
The violence resulted in fatalities at the scene. Hassan Makuku, the school’s vice principal, was killed during the raid, while a security guard, Ali Shehu, sustained a gunshot wound to the hand.
Naff’u Abubakar Kotarkoshi, a spokesperson for the police command, said the attackers arrived wielding “sophisticated weapons,” overwhelming the local security apparatus.
In response to the incident, President Bola Tinubu acknowledged the security lapse, confirming that intelligence agencies had received prior warnings regarding bandit activity in the area.
Addressing the nation, Tinubu urged citizens in vulnerable regions to prioritize intelligence sharing. He called on communities to collaborate more closely with the military, police, and the Department of State Services (DSS) to preempt future attacks.
The incident in Kebbi adds to a growing list of mass kidnappings that have disrupted education across northern Nigeria, forcing many schools to close due to safety concerns.
