Fresh woes for pupils in Niger

At least 12 pupils of Madarasatul Nurul Islam, Maikujeri community in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State have been reportedly kidnapped by bandits.

Daily Trust gathered that the children were abducted around 10am on Saturday while harvesting maize on their teacher’s farm on the outskirts of the town.

A resident, Mohammed Adamu, told Daily Trust that the children were already on their way home when the bandits struck and picked them.

An Okada man identified as Tasi’u, who attempted to escape, was reportedly shot and is currently receiving treatment at the IBB Specialist Hospital in Minna, the state capital.

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Another source close to the Quranic school told one of our correspondents that 13 people, including 12 female pupils of the school and the younger brother of the school’s proprietor, Mallam Mainasara, were kidnapped.

He said the victims, aged between nine and 14, were abducted as they stopped by a borehole to wash themselves and drink water after leaving the farm.

According to him, the pupils had been working on the farm with their teacher when the teacher received information that bandits were advancing towards the area.

He said the teacher immediately instructed the pupils to return home while he also left on his motorcycle.

“While on their way home, the pupils reportedly stopped at a borehole to wash their bodies and drink water. It was at that point that the armed men swooped on them and whisked them away,” he said.

The source further disclosed that some women were also abducted from another farm in the area.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Niger Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, promised to verify the information and revert.

The police spokesperson, however, revealed that six people were rescued but was silent on the abduction of the pupils.

He said, “On 29th October, 2026, at about 12.30pm, joint security tactical teams during a clearance and rescue operation around Pandogari Rafi LGA rescued six abducted victims who were reportedly kidnapped by some hoodlums on 28th October, 2026 at about 12 pm in their farms at Mahangi village via Pandogari.

“The victims were abducted and taken to Hanawanka forest where they were rescued unhurt. They were later received at Kagara Div for debriefing and medical attention ahead of reunion with their relatives.”

Map of Niger State with red cycle indicating the LGA where the incident took place

Dozens of farmers displaced

Similarly, dozens of farming communities in Borgu, Mariga, Mashegu and Rijau LGAs have continued to flee their homes following the renewed bandits’ attacks.

The affected farmers told Daily Trust that their farm produce, including rice, soyabeans and maize, is wasting on their farms because bandits have stopped them from harvesting.

Ibrahim Ayuba, a resident of one of the affected communities in Mariga LGA told Daily Trust that their farm produce including rice, white beans, soyabeans have been left to waste due to attacks and kidnapping of farmers from their homes and on their farms.

He said, “Currently, for about 14 to 19 days now, bandits have occupied some villages in Mariga, including Ragada, Maburya, Mazame, Kuimo and Kura, as well as villages in Rijau Local Government Area, which include Inana, Idaci, among others.

“This situation has forced people to flee their homes for days. The attacks have resulted in the loss of three lives and injured many others, alongside allegations of sexual assault against women.

“The people from the affected areas are currently in the towns of Warari, Gulbin Boka, and Rijau. Just tonight, we received reports of an attempted new attack in Kuimo, which has forced the residents of that area to flee again in the middle of the night. As for the farms, they are truly in a critical state; if the soybeans and rice do not receive immediate attention and care, they will go to waste.”

Recent abductions in Niger

It has been 72 days since over 500 Worshippers were kidnapped from Juma’at mosques in Dekara and four other communities. Families said the abductors have yet to communicate with them since the incident.

Terrorists had invaded four Juma’at mosques in Dekara, Gbezhin, Sabon-Gida and Kpenya simultaneously on August 21, 2026 and took away Worshippers.

On 15 June bandits attacked farmlands in Pandogari District of Rafi LGA and killed one Dauda Galadima, a resident of the nearby Ruba village. They also abducted five farmers on their fields, including Nasiru Yakubu and his son, Bilyaminu.

On July 24, gunmen raided Tashar Hajiya community in Niger State at about 2:30 a.m., killing one 25-year-old Mustafa Murtala and abducting three residents, one Alhaji Baza Baza, his wife and one of their daughters.

On September 27, 47 farmers were abducted while harvesting groundnuts on their farms in Tugan-Rimi, Mariga LGA of the state.

Daily Trust also recalls that on November 21, 2025, 230 pupils and students as well as staff members were kidnapped at St. Mary’s Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Agwara LGA.

The victims were later rescued through an operation coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser after several weeks in captivity.

Also in November 2025, terrorists kidnapped an unspecified number of travellers along the Wawa–Luma Road in Borgu LGA, Niger State.

According to a source, two passenger vehicles heading to Gupanti and Lumma communities were intercepted, and all occupants were abducted.

However, farmers in Mariga, Borgu , Mashegu, Rijau told Daily Trust that attacks and kidnappings have become a daily occurrence.

Forest security key to ending abductions – Experts

A Senior Security Consultant, Auwal Bala Durumin Iya, has called on the federal government to strengthen security in Nigeria’s forests to address the persistent abduction of students, including Almajiri pupils and conventional schoolchildren.

Durumin Iya, who is also a Quality and Internal Quality Assurance Manager of Homeland Security in Nigeria, said securing forests was critical to protecting rural communities and urban centres from kidnappers.

He made the call while reacting to the reported abduction of some Almajiri pupils in Niger State while they were returning from their teacher’s farm.

He said kidnappers deliberately targeted schoolchildren because their abduction attracted widespread public attention, putting pressure on governments and security agencies.

According to him, the publicity generated by such incidents also creates fear among residents and could force communities to submit to the demands and directives of criminal groups.

“When they kidnap students or Almajiri pupils, the attention of the public goes directly to that kidnapping, and they want wider publicity. When they get wider publicity, it means the students or community will put pressure on security personnel and the government. It also creates more fear in the community so that people may obey their orders, thereby distracting the government and security personnel,” he said.

The security expert identified the establishment of a specialised forest security system, which he described as a forest marshal arrangement, as one of the measures needed to tackle the menace.

He explained that the proposed forest marshals should be educated and properly trained personnel with the capacity to secure both thick and thin forests across the country.

“When our forests become secure, our villages will also become secure. And when our villages are secure, the urban areas will be more secure,” he said.

Recent bandits attack in Niger State

Durumin Iya noted that many kidnapping incidents, particularly random and conventional abductions, occurred around forest areas, making the protection of such locations essential to preventing attacks on surrounding communities.

He also proposed the establishment of an independent Centre for Intelligent Research to conduct professional security research and provide governments with early warnings and policy recommendations.

He said the centre would bring together security professionals and researchers to study emerging threats and anticipate security developments within specific areas, including possible incidents in the following six months.

According to him, findings from such research would be documented and communicated to relevant authorities to enable them to develop effective strategies for tackling security challenges in forests, rural communities and urban centres.

The security consultant further advocated the adoption of a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programme to identify and develop the skills of Nigerians who possess practical knowledge and competencies but lack formal education.

He said recognising such skills would enable government and relevant institutions to support individuals in developing their abilities, producing goods and services and creating employment opportunities.

“Many people in Nigeria did not go to school, but they have competence, skills and knowledge. When you recognise their knowledge, they can produce and train many young people coming up.

“The government does not have to provide employment for everybody. When their skills are recognised, the government can connect them with other government opportunities, non-governmental organisations, companies and individuals who have the resources to purchase their products.

“That way, they can employ more people than the government,” he said.

He urged the government to consider the three proposals as part of broader efforts to address insecurity, strengthen community protection and reduce unemployment, which he said could help tackle some of the conditions that expose communities to criminal activities.

Weighing into the matter, a security and counter-terrorism expert, Chidi Omeje, in an interview with one of our correspondents, explained that intelligence gathering must be strengthened.

Omeje also listed security of Nigeria’s forests and porous borders as part of broader ways to resolve issues of kidnapping, adding that the military alone could not solve the menace.

The expert said, “To stem the tide of kidnapping in Nigeria, we must stop treating kidnapping merely as a military problem and confront it as a governance, intelligence and law-enforcement failure.

“Strengthen intelligence gathering at the grassroots, dismantle kidnapping networks and their financiers, secure our forests and porous borders, improve inter-agency collaboration, and ensure the swift prosecution of perpetrators.

“The police must lead internal security operations, with the military providing support where necessary. Above all, tackle the poverty, unemployment and criminal economies that sustain recruitment into these gangs.

“Kidnapping will not end through force alone; it requires actionable intelligence, political will, effective law enforcement and good governance.”

What is driving Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis – Ex-NIA DG

Meanwhile, a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ahmed Rufai, has said Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis is being sustained by a complex network of terrorist groups, criminal bandit militias, informants and financial facilitators,

Rufai said the motives behind abductions had evolved from fundraising and recruitment to political propaganda and prisoner exchanges, making the country’s security challenge more complicated.

He spoke at the Global Security Forum in Doha – Qatar, an annual international gathering of senior government officials, security experts, academics and journalists.

Explaining Nigeria’s kidnapping situation, the former intelligence chief identified three broad categories of perpetrators: terrorist groups, bandit militias and other criminal gangs.

He said Boko Haram, which operates in parts of the country, was affiliated with terrorist organisations in the Sahel and beyond, adding that its early abductions were aimed at raising funds and recruiting young men and women into its ranks.

According to him, bandit militias, on the other hand, engage in criminal kidnapping, often targeting individuals and communities to collect ransom.

“It’s a kind of economy hostage-taking,” he said.

Rufai said the motives of the different groups had increasingly overlapped, with terrorist organisations sometimes working alongside criminal militias to carry out mass abductions.

He said such operations were intended not only to raise money but also to serve as propaganda and demonstrate the groups’ continued activities, particularly when security forces intensified their operations against them.

The former NIA chief cited the Abuja-Kaduna train attack, in which about 100 passengers were abducted, as an example of collaboration between terrorist and criminal groups.

He estimated that between $1 million and $2 million was collected as ransom, saying the money was channelled to Ansaru in the Sahel region.

Rufai said the pattern of kidnapping had also expanded to the abduction of schoolchildren and worshippers, both Muslims and Christians, with some incidents now aimed at securing the release of detained members of the groups.

He, however, noted that negotiations for prisoner exchanges could become difficult when the individuals whose release was being demanded had already been killed during security operations.

Beyond the perpetrators, Rufai identified a network of informants, financial facilitators and other criminal collaborators as key elements sustaining kidnapping operations.

He said informants provide information about potential targets, while financial systems, including cryptocurrencies and small financial outfits, are used to launder ransom proceeds.

“They use a lot of informants that tell them about their targets, their potential targets,” he said.

On possible responses, Rufai said approaches to hostage-taking should depend on the motives and identities of the perpetrators.

He advocated discreet, back-channel negotiations in cases where terrorist groups abduct victims primarily for money, involving trusted intermediaries and contact persons.