Overview
- President Bola Tinubu announced a nationwide security emergency, ordering a forest cordon, continuous air surveillance, redeployment of police VIP bodyguards, and the hiring of 50,000 new police recruits alongside additional armed forces recruitment.
- Authorities and school officials say about 303 people were seized at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Niger state, around 50 escaped, and roughly 253 children plus 12 teachers have not been found, with no claim of responsibility or ransom contact reported.
- The presidency confirmed all 24 girls taken from a Kebbi boarding school on November 17 have been rescued, after attackers killed Vice Principal Hassan Yakubu Makuku during the raid.
- Police reported another abduction of 10 women and children in Kwara state, as officials noted the earlier kidnapping of 38 worshippers there ended with their return home.
- The United Nations condemned the surge in kidnappings as Nigeria’s Senate pursued an investigation into the Safe School Fund, while authorities temporarily closed dozens of federal and state schools and parents pleaded for urgent rescues, citing very young and medically vulnerable children.