School kidnappings surge under Tinubu as 551 students, staff abducted in three years

• At least 551 students and school staff have been abducted in nine mass school kidnapping incidents since President Bola Tinubu took office in 2023.

• The recent abduction of 46 people from three schools in Oyo State has raised concerns about terrorist groups extending their activities into southern Nigeria.

• Despite government security efforts, schools remain frequent targets for armed groups, leaving many students and communities vulnerable.

The recent abduction of dozens of pupils and teachers in Oyo State has once again drawn attention to Nigeria's worsening school kidnapping crisis, with data showing that attacks on educational institutions have increased significantly since President Bola Tinubu assumed office in May 2023.

The latest incident happened before dawn in Yawota and Esiele communities in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, where armed terrorists invaded three schools and abducted dozens of people.

According to local residents, the attackers stormed the communities in the early hours, rounding up frightened pupils and teachers before marching them into nearby forests connected to the Old Oyo National Park. The same area witnessed the killing of five park rangers earlier this year.

Among those kidnapped was the vice principal of Community Grammar School, Alamu Folawe. The spokesperson of the Oyo State Police Command, Ayanlade Olayinka, confirmed that the attackers also stole the vice principal's vehicle before setting it ablaze.

The attack has reignited concerns about the safety of schools across Nigeria.

An analysis of reported school kidnapping incidents between May 2023 and May 2026 shows that at least nine mass abductions have occurred under President Tinubu's administration, involving 551 students and school staff.

The figure marks a sharp increase when compared to the first three years of former President Muhammadu Buhari's administration, during which one major school abduction involving 110 students was recorded.

The increase represents roughly a 401 per cent rise in the number of victims.

By comparison, no school kidnapping incidents were recorded during the first three years of former President Goodluck Jonathan's administration. However, the situation changed dramatically in 2014 when 276 schoolgirls were abducted from Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, an incident that drew global outrage and sparked the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

READ ALSO: 'The kidnappers are on social media with us' — Presidency explains silence on Oyo schoolchildren rescue

Since then, mass school kidnappings have evolved from isolated incidents into a recurring security challenge across several parts of the country.

Security analysts note that while the crisis was once largely associated with insurgency-hit states in the North-east, it expanded into the North-west and North-central regions during the Buhari years and is now increasingly affecting parts of southern Nigeria.

Despite military operations and programmes such as the Safe School Initiative, armed groups continue to target schools as vulnerable locations for mass abductions.

SBM Intelligence defines a mass abduction as an incident involving five or more victims.

Several school-related abductions have been recorded since Tinubu took office.

In 2023, five students were kidnapped from Federal University Dutsin-Ma in Katsina State. The same year, 22 students were abducted from Federal University Gusau in Zamfara State.

In March 2024, gunmen stormed LEA Primary and Secondary School in Kuriga, Kaduna State, abducting 137 pupils. Around the same period, another 15 students were kidnapped from an Islamic boarding school in Gidan Bakuso, Sokoto State.

The following year, the Boko Haram faction led by Sadiku reportedly abducted 315 students and staff from St. Mary's Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State.

This year, 26 children were abducted from Darul Kitab Islamic Orphanage and School in Kogi State before the latest attack in Oyo, where 46 people were kidnapped from three schools.

The recorded incidents under Tinubu's administration include:

2023

• Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina – 5 students abducted

• Federal University Gusau, Zamfara – 22 students abducted

• LEA Primary and Secondary School, Kuriga, Kaduna – 137 abducted

• Islamic Boarding School, Gidan Bakuso, Sokoto – 15 abducted

2024

• Darul Kitab Islamic Orphanage and School, Kogi – 26 abducted

• Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi – 25 abducted

• St. Mary's Catholic School, Papiri, Niger – 315 abducted

2025

• Federal University, Lafia, Nasarawa – 6 students abducted

2026

• Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School, Esiele; and L.A. Primary School, Oyo State – 46 abducted
  
  Total: 9 incidents, 551 students and staff abducted.

READ ALSO: From Chibok to Oyo: here’s the list of major school kidnapping cases in Nigeria since 2014

The Oyo attack has also raised fresh concerns about the movement of terrorist groups into southern Nigeria.

President Bola Tinubu condemned the attack, describing it as barbaric and assuring Nigerians that federal security agencies were working with the Oyo State Government to secure the release of all victims.

Speaking after the incident, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde said pressure from military operations in northern Nigeria was forcing terrorist groups to move southward in search of new operational bases.

His comments triggered widespread debate about the possible presence of terrorist cells in the South-west.

The Defence Headquarters later responded, saying the incident should not be interpreted as evidence of an established terrorist network in the region. However, military authorities confirmed that members of Boko Haram were responsible for the school abductions.

"The recent incidence of kidnap in Oyo State was clearly perpetrated by terrorists of the JAS Group that have been dislodged from other parts of the country due to high-intensity operations being conducted all over," Defence Headquarters spokesperson Michael Onoja said.

JAS, short for Jama'atu Ahlis-Sunna Lidda'Awati Wal-Jihad, is the official name of the group widely known as Boko Haram.

For many residents in Oyo State, the attack came as a shock. The Ogbomoso axis and much of the South-west had long been considered relatively insulated from the wave of school abductions that have plagued parts of northern Nigeria for more than a decade.

Security experts, however, say the threat has been building for years. Taiwo Adebayo, a researcher with the Institute for Security Studies and chairperson of the Oyo Global Forum, noted that the Old Oyo National Park remains vulnerable because of its proximity to the Kainji forest complex, where multiple jihadist groups are believed to operate.

The latest attack highlights how Nigeria's school kidnapping crisis continues to evolve geographically, raising concerns about whether educational institutions across the country are adequately protected from increasingly mobile armed groups.