Crime
Tension in schools as terrorists kidnap over 800 in one week, kill scores
Safety of schoolchildren is again under scrutiny as bandits carry out audacious attacks across the Northern part of the country.
From Wednesday, March 6 to Monday March 11, about 800 unsuspecting Nigerians, mostly schoolchildren, were kidnapped by daredevil terrorists in the northern part of the country.
According to Amnesty International, AI, Boko Haram terrorists abducted over 400 people, including women and children in Borno State on Tuesday last week.
The Islamic extremists abducted the victims who reportedly left the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camps in Gamboru Ngala council area to search for firewood.
The victims were mostly women and children sacked from their ancestral homes by the terrorists causing mayhem in the Northeast.
Barely 24 hours after the Borno attack, over 280 pupils and teachers of Government Secondary School and LEA primary school at Kuriga, Kaduna State were abducted by bandits on March 8, triggering national outrage.
The blood-thirsty bandits invaded the Kuriga area of the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State in the morning shooting at their victims before taking away at least 280 of the pupils and teachers.
A few days after the Kuriga incident, the assailants struck again in Buda community in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, abducting over 61 people.
About four persons were reportedly killed during the unfortunate incident.
Recall that armed men broke into a boarding school in Gidan Bakuso village of the Gada council area in Sokoto State on March 9 and abducted about 15 children. The attackers invaded the school when the children were sleeping.
Killing in Benue State
The same week, over 50 persons, including a family of seven, were killed following the invasion of Gbagir community in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State, by suspected armed Fulani militia.
Over 16 people were killed on March 8 during an attack on Wa-ndoo, a community in Mbalom, Gwer-East Local Government Area of Benue State.
The attackers, whom the state governor, Hyacinth Alia and residents claimed were armed herders, invaded the community at night while some of the residents were having supper. They opened fire on residents and whisked some away.
Tension in schools
Since the 2014 incident when more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped by the Islamic extremists in Borno State’s Chibok village, there has been a series of abductions of school children.
The armed gangs have targeted and attacked several schools for ransom.
The recent attacks, particularly the abduction of 280 students in Kaduna State have triggered tension in other school facilities across the nation, especially in the Northern region.
Parents in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja are worried over rumours of planned attacks in schools.
There are rumours that the terrorists are planning to launch attacks in some government-owned schools, particularly in Bwari, Bwari Area Council.
Some schools have adjusted their academic calendar to enable students to write their second-term examinations and proceed for Easter holidays.
One of the parents, Mrs Maria Adakwu, who spoke on Saturday, urged the Nigerian government and the security agencies to beef up security across schools in Abuja.
Maria is worried over the safety of her daughter schooling at the Federal Government College, FGC, Kwali in Sheda village, an outskirt of the nation’s capital.
Recall that the school community was attacked in February 2022, forcing the Federal Government to promptly order the immediate closure of the facility.
According to Mrs Maria, “the government and the security agencies need to be proactive in ensuring the safety of our children. We don’t need to wait until it happens before we take action.
“Most schools in the FCT have remained the same in terms of security despite what has been happening around us. The kidnapping in Kaduna State should be a warning and a sign that it can happen anywhere.
“Parents, especially those of us who have children in boarding schools, hardly sleep with our two eyes closed. We need to be sure of the safety of our children”.
However, when contacted, the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh allayed fear of any attacks, assuring that schools in the FCT were safe.
She said, “FCT is very safe. All schools are well fortified within the territory and there is no reason to fear any intimidation from any quarters.”
It was gathered on Sunday that some parents in Kaduna State, particularly residents of Chikun Local Government are withdrawing their children from public schools over fear of attacks.
Although the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Mansir Hassan declined speaking on the matter, a security source who preferred not to be mentioned, confirmed that parents and guardians are withdrawing their pupils.
According to him, the recent abduction has triggered palpable fear in many parts of the state.
He said, “Insecurity is a very serious issue here. It is not just about school, people are scared of going out to places like marketplace, mosques and churches because of the bandits.
“Some security officers are also finding ways to be transferred from here.
“We are always the first target in any attack. Wherever they want to attack, they first attack the police formation in the area and sometimes, the attacks happen simultaneously.
“You can’t blame parents for withdrawing their children from schools. It is not possible for the police to be in every school at the same time.
“Some communities are very far from town, so securing those places can be a little difficult. This is why we need more hands. The government should recruit able youths that will help in this matter”.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government, on Wednesday, said it would not pay “a dime” as ransom for the release of over 280 pupils and teachers kidnapped from the Government Secondary School and LEA Primary School at Kuriga, Kaduna State.
The Government also said it had received offers of help from the United States and other countries to secure the student’s release and was weighing the offers.
The Department of State Services, DSS, and the Nigerian Police Force, have arrested at least 20 suspects over hacking of the 2025 computer-based test, CBT, Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME.
The 2025 UTME was conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.
According to reports, the suspects are part of a syndicate believed to have over 100 persons who specialise in hacking of the computer servers of examination bodies like JAMB and the National Examinations Council, NECO.
The report also confirmed that the suspects have confessed to sabotaging the CBT system in order to discredit JAMB and discourage students from using CBT for future examinations to be conducted by NECO and the West African Examination Council, WAEC.
“The syndicate would install an attacking software on the examination body hardware. The software, in turn, would remotely hack JAMB servers at any targeted CBT centre,” the source quoted one of the suspect as confessing.
The entire hacking process was to influence high scores for special candidates who paid between N700,000 and N2 million.
The report further added that preliminary investigations revealed that several members of the syndicate own private schools and colleges, and make huge sums of money from their special centres.
….Orders Investigation into Oyo Tragic Traffic Incident
The Inspector General of Police, IGP, Kayode Egbetokun has condemned the recent unprovoked attacks on police operatives in the early hours of Monday, 20th May 2025, at Okhuimwun Community in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State.
In a press statement made available to Ohibaba.com, and signed by ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Force public relations officer, at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, on the 21st May, 2025, the IGP also condemned the alleged killing of an SSCE student by police personnel in Ibadan.
The statement reads: “The Nigeria Police Force strongly condemns the unprovoked attack on police operatives in the early hours of Monday, 20th May 2025, at Okhuimwun Community in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State.
The operatives, who are members of the Force Intelligence Department – Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT), were in transit from Lagos through Edo State when they encountered a mob that had blocked the road immediately after the University of Benin (UNIBEN) axis.
The mob, in an unlawful display of aggression, descended on the officers with stones, sticks, and other dangerous objects, inflicting serious injuries on two police personnel.
It is noteworthy that despite the provocation and threat to life, the officers exercised commendable restraint by not resorting to the use of force.
The injured officers are currently receiving medical attention and are in stable condition.
The Nigeria Police Force warns against acts of lawlessness and unprovoked aggression against its personnel who are committed to maintaining law and order and hereby assure the public that investigations have commenced, and appropriate legal actions will be taken against those found culpable.
In a separate development, the Inspector-General of Police has ordered a comprehensive investigation into a tragic incident in Oyo State involving personnel of the Oyo State Police Command and the Oyo State Traffic Management Authority (OYTMA), which led to the unfortunate demise of a 14-year-old boy, Kehinde Alade.
The Inspector-General of Police condemned the incident and assured that the officer involved in the shooting has been taken into custody while a full-scale investigation is underway.
He equally reiterated that the process will be transparent, and its findings will be made public to ensure justice is duly served as he expressed heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased young man.
The Nigeria Police Force reiterates its commitment to the protection of lives and property and urges citizens to remain law-abiding and to channel grievances through lawful and peaceful means.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered a bank account operated by a foreign national allegedly used to collect payments from Nigerians seeking to obtain a questionable six-week bachelor’s degree abroad.
The discovery was announced by ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, during a stakeholders’ advocacy event on asset tracing, recovery and management held Tuesday in Abuja.
The event was organised by the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity (CeFTPI), with support from the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).
“Within some weeks, we were able to discover that a foreigner opened an account in Nigeria while Nigerian students were paying money into the account to obtain that six-week degree,” Aliyu revealed.
“We were able to track the account and obtain a civil forfeiture order. We have been trying to ensure that the culprits are brought to book, especially those that are beyond our shores.”
He called for greater synergy among anti-corruption agencies to ensure that perpetrators of financial crimes are not allowed to enjoy the proceeds of their actions.
Also at the event, Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Dr. Abdullahi Bello, disclosed that an ongoing audit of over 10,000 public servants’ asset declarations has revealed that about 20 percent of them are false.
On a broader continental scale, the Director-General of GIABA, Edwin Harris, lamented the growing trend of illicit financial flows out of Africa.
Citing a report by former South African President Thabo Mbeki under the auspices of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Harris noted that while $50 billion was previously estimated to be lost annually, the current figure now stands between $88 billion and $94 billion.
CeFTPI Executive Director, Umar Yakubu, said the event brought together key stakeholders from anti-graft institutions, civil society, the judiciary and international partners to develop innovative mechanisms for transparency, citizen engagement and accountability in asset recovery efforts.
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