By Deborah Nnamdi
President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive security lockdown across forests in Kwara State in response to a surge in kidnappings and terrorist activities.
The directive, announced on Tuesday by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, also mandates the Nigerian Air Force to intensify aerial surveillance over deep forest areas believed to be hideouts of armed groups. The order extends to parts of Kebbi and Niger states, where ongoing rescue efforts are underway.
According to Dare, the President instructed that round-the-clock air surveillance be maintained to back up ground troops already deployed to vulnerable zones.
“Communities are also urged to provide timely information about strange movements and activities to aid the work of the security forces,” he added.
The renewed security measures come after terrorists attacked St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Niger State, abducting more than 300 students and staff—one of Nigeria’s largest school kidnappings in recent years.
In the same week, 25 schoolgirls were taken from Government Comprehensive Girls Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, while 38 worshippers were abducted from a church in Eruku, Kwara State. Although at least 50 students from St. Mary’s managed to escape, more than 265 children and teachers remain in captivity.
Nigeria’s struggle with mass abductions dates back to the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ kidnapping, when Boko Haram seized 276 students. Over a decade later, about 90 of them are still missing.
The country continues to grapple with widespread insecurity driven by jihadist insurgency and violent “bandit” gangs that raid communities, kill residents, and kidnap victims for ransom.
