Nigeria’s Catholic Bishop of Kontagora, Yohana Dauwa Bulus, has voiced deep concern over the safety of children following the November 17 kidnapping of 25 students from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State.
Speaking to ACI Africa on Tuesday, November 18, Bishop Bulus called the attack a painful wake-up call, noting that the country has become increasingly dangerous for its youngest citizens.
He said he had gathered accounts from survivors who described terrifying scenes that lasted nearly five hours, from 1 a.m. until 6 a.m. on the day of the incident.
According to one eyewitness, the ordeal began the previous evening, November 16, when a group of men believed to be soldiers, arrived at the school around 4 p.m. Roughly 15 of them showed up on motorcycles and in a van, armed and moving through the compound without explanation. Staff later returned to their quarters after the men left.
In the early hours of Monday morning, heavily armed bandits invaded the school, firing into the air.
The attackers went to the home of staff member Mallam Hassan Yakubu, finding him praying. He was shot dead immediately. When his wife refused to reveal where the students slept, the gunmen took one of her daughters and forced her to lead them to the hostel.
Witnesses say the shooting continued for nearly five hours, with the assailants escaping before any security forces returned. It was only after the armed men fled that teachers were ordered to conduct a roll call and discovered the girls were missing.
The school, which normally houses about 300 students and is typically protected by police and soldiers, has been shut down indefinitely. It remains uncertain whether the security personnel were present during the attack.
Bishop Bulus described the mass abduction as part of a worsening pattern of violence across Kebbi and parts of Niger State.
“It has never been this bad. People sleep in the bush because they have nowhere else to run,” he said.
He urged the parents of the kidnapped girls to hold on to hopm“We are praying that God will watch over these girls wherever they are. The government must act urgently to bring them home. All of them will return alive,” he said.
The 54-year-old Bishop also pointed to long-standing challenges faced by Christian communities in the region, including what he described as “silent discrimination and persecution.”
He said Church efforts to buy land, build parishes, and open schools are frequently opposed.“Christians have endured silent persecution for years. They stopped us from building our school and churches. They said our land was too close to their mosque, and every planting season they would break our boundary,” Bishop Bulus explained.
He recalled how some communities intentionally built mosques directly in front of donated Church land to obstruct Christian worship.
“We struggled for over 10 years trying to open just one parish,” he said.A breakthrough finally came, he recounted, after intense prayer to St. Padre Pio. The local emir, who had been ill abroad, unexpectedly called and ordered authorities to release all withheld land documents.
“It was nothing short of a miracle,” Bishop Bulus said. “That same day, every paper they had denied us was handed over.”
The Bishop described the broader security situation in his Diocese as “terrible,” citing attacks in Kebbi, Magama, Mariga, and other communities along the River Niget.
“They entered one of our outstation churches, and everyone fled into the bush. There was no time to save anything,” he noted.Bishop Bulus criticized political leaders for prioritizing arguments and election plans over citizens’ safety.
“If the government had done enough, we wouldn’t be here. Instead of dealing with reality, they argue about whether Muslims or Christians are the ones being killed. That is not the real issue,” he said.
.He warned that many politicians seem more focused on the 2027 elections than on the rising wave of violence.“They care more about 2027. Security is not their concern — winning elections is,” he said.The Bishop said he recently met with the Niger State Governor, urging him to tell the President that addressing insecurity must come before politics.“Let him act on the insecurity. That is the best campaign he can offer right now,” Bishop Bulus said.
