Minna, Nigeria — Mediaage —
Parents in Papiri village, Niger State, are living in fear after more than 300 students were abducted from St Mary’s Catholic School in the early hours of 21 November, according to reporting by the BBC. Many of the children are as young as five, and roughly 250 remain missing.
For villagers, the threat of violence is ever-present. Many refuse to speak to authorities or journalists, afraid the kidnappers might retaliate. “If they hear you say anything about them, before you know it they’ll come for you. They’ll come to your house and take you into the bush,” a father, identified only as Aliyu, told the BBC.
Aliyu said the kidnappers are hiding in remote forest areas, making any rescue attempt extremely dangerous. Parents remain desperate, knowing that captives in past abductions have sometimes died when ransoms were not paid.
The Papiri attack is part of a disturbing wave of mass kidnappings across northern and central Nigeria. Just days later, 12 teenage girls were taken from Mussa District in Borno State but were rescued by Nigerian security forces, the BBC reports. Earlier, 25 girls were abducted in Kebbi State but were later freed following a police operation.
Analysts say local complicity often plays a key role in such kidnappings. Yusuf, a legal guardian of some of the Maga girls, told the BBC: “These kidnappings can only happen with the connivance of someone from the community, because no stranger can come to a place and pull something like this off without the help of locals.”
In north-west Nigeria, some communities have turned to unconventional solutions, negotiating peace deals with bandit leaders in exchange for access to resources such as clean water, grazing routes, or mineral rights. David Nwaigwe, a security analyst with SBM Intelligence, told the BBC that these agreements have helped reduce attacks in places like Jibia and Kurfi in Katsina State.
Yet experts warn that such deals may merely push violence southward, toward wealthier regions where ransoms are more likely to be paid. “As you move further south, people are better off economically… The more these gangs push southwards, the more they’re likely to find places that they can attack,” Nwaigwe said.
The recent surge in kidnappings comes amid growing international scrutiny of Nigeria’s security situation, including criticism of the government’s inability to protect civilians from jihadist attacks, the BBC notes. For the families in Papiri, the days stretch long, and hope remains fragile.