Overview
- The federal government ordered the temporary shutdown of nearly 50 boarding schools in response to a wave of kidnappings.
- Armed men abducted about 303 pupils and 12 staff from a Catholic boarding school in Niger state, the largest mass kidnapping in Nigeria since 2014.
- Roughly 50 pupils who fled their captors have reunited with their families, authorities and local reports said.
- The governor of Kwara state announced that 38 worshippers taken from a church were released, though circumstances remain unclear.
- No group has claimed responsibility as analysts point to ransom-seeking bandits; SBM Intelligence reports more than 4,700 kidnappings and 670 deaths in a year, with relatives in one case citing a 100 million naira demand.