Following what could be referred to as the largest mass kidnappings which occurred on November 21, 2025 in St. Mary’s Catholic Co-education School in Niger State, Nigeria, where over 300 students and staff were abducted during an early morning attack by bandits, the United Nations on Tuesday condemned a surge in mass kidnappings in north-central Nigeria, calling on the authorities to take urgent steps to halt the attacks and bring perpetrators to justice.
“We are shocked at the recent surge in mass abductions in north-central Nigeria,” UN rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters in Geneva.
“We urge the Nigerian authorities — at all levels — to take all lawful measures to ensure such vile attacks are halted and to hold those responsible to account.
“At least 402 people, most of them schoolchildren, have been abducted in the states of Niger, Kebbi, Kwara and Borno since 17 November,” Kheetan said, adding that “only 88 of them have reportedly been freed or have escaped from their captors”.
al-Kheetan urged the Nigerian government to do all that is legally possible to ensure the safe return of the abductees to their respective families.
“They must also hold prompt, impartial and effective investigations into abductions and bring those responsible to justice,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government of Kebbi, as well as other northern governors have ordered the temporary closure of over 47 Unity Schools, after the spate of killings and abductions in different schools in the north central of Nigeria.
Despite efforts by the government, the kidnappings and killings still persist. Many believe the spate of killings and abductions increased after President Trump’s threat to the Nigerian government to stop the killings or face consequences.