A senior United States senator on Wednesday blasted President Bola Tinubu’s administration for its handling of a surge in school kidnappings, saying “little has changed” in Nigeria’s response to attacks on students.
Republican Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reacted to the abduction of 25 girls from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School (GGCSS) in Maga, Danko‑Wasagu LGA of Kebbi State. In a post on his verified X account, Risch said the U.S. would hold Nigeria accountable for failing to protect schoolchildren and other vulnerable citizens from jihadist and criminal gangs.
“Nigeria has long failed to protect its schoolchildren from jihadist and criminal abductions, and little has changed,” Risch wrote. “Students, especially girls, remain targets for enslavement, conversion, and ransom. As the U.S. engages the Nigerian government on the persecution of its most vulnerable citizens, we will continue to hold them accountable.”
One of the 25 girls reportedly escaped and has reunited with her family. The attack also left the school’s vice‑principal dead, according to local reports.
Risch’s comments come amid renewed local and international outrage over the latest incident, which is part of a decade‑long pattern of mass kidnappings in northern Nigeria. High‑profile abductions since 2014 include the 276 Chibok girls seized by Boko Haram, and later attacks in Dapchi (Yobe), Jangebe (Zamfara), Tegina (Niger), Kankara (Katsina) and Kuriga (Kaduna). Victims have at times been held for ransom, subjected to forced conversion, or subjected to violence.
Human rights groups say the continuing insecurity undermines the right to education—particularly for girls—and threatens long‑term development in affected regions. Kebbi State itself suffered a major abduction in 2021 when gunmen seized more than 80 students from Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri; some victims remained in captivity for months.
The Nigerian military said it had launched intensified search operations following the Kebbi abduction, and state authorities pledged to secure the safe return of the missing students. Families and advocacy groups, however, have urged stronger preventive measures rather than reactive deployments.
Risch, who has previously pressured Nigeria on religious freedom and counterinsurgency responses, framed the latest attack as evidence that promises of sweeping security reforms have not translated into effective protection for citizens, especially minors. His remarks add to growing calls for accountability, structural reform, and sustained international engagement to address Nigeria’s worsening security crisis.
