Nigeria is experiencing a new wave of mass kidnappings, the largest of which involved a Catholic school where 315 people were abducted. Faced with the security crisis, President Bola Tinubu has cancelled his participation in the G20 summit in South Africa.

The unprecedented kidnapping took place early Friday morning at St. Mary's Catholic College in Papiri , Niger State (central Nigeria). According to a new report released Saturday, November 22, by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), 303 students and 12 teachers were abducted by armed men.

This figure, updated by local bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna after verification, represents nearly half of the 629 enrolled students. The bishop clarified that 88 students initially thought to have escaped were ultimately recaptured while attempting to flee.

Emergency Responses and Measures

The Nigerian government has not yet confirmed this toll, with the governor of Niger State, Mohammed Umar Bago, indicating that security forces were still counting.

Faced with this escalation, President Bola Tinubu cancelled his international commitments , including his participation in the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to focus on managing the crisis.

Drastic measures have been taken in the education sector :

1. The governor of Niger State has ordered the closure of all schools in his state.
2. The federal Department of Education has announced the closure of 47 federally run high schools , mostly in the north of the country.

Security context and international threats

This kidnapping comes amid a resurgence of mass abductions, which have become a preferred tactic of armed gangs and jihadist groups:

1. It follows an attack carried out on Monday in the neighboring state of Kebbi, where 25 schoolgirls were abducted from a high school.
2. Nigeria is still scarred by the memory of the abduction of the Chibok girls by Boko Haram more than ten years ago.

The national security crisis has also entered the international debate. US President Donald Trump threatened military intervention in Nigeria, citing massacres of Christians by "radical Islamists".

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, for his part, called on Nigeria to "take urgent and sustained steps to end the violence against Christians" during talks with Nigeria's national security advisor. Authorities in Abuja, however, insist that the attacks are affecting Nigerians of all faiths.

The threat of "bandits" and the link with jihadists

The kidnappings are most often perpetrated by heavily armed criminal gangs , nicknamed "bandits," who operate in the vast rural areas of the northwest and central parts of the country, often to obtain ransoms. These groups have established their bases in a vast forest spanning several states.

Although their motivation is primarily financial, security analysts are concerned about their growing ties with jihadist groups that have been waging an insurgency in the northeast for sixteen years, making nationwide hostage-taking a major security challenge.