Abductions are resurging and may be spreading to new areas – with young children among the victims. A military response alone won’t work

Early last month, Nigeria’s government announced the largest single-day hostage rescue in its history, with the freeing of 300 people who had been taken in raids in two north central states. Celebrations were short-lived. Barely a fortnight later, gunmen abducted up to 600 worshippers from a mosque in Niger state. Nigerians paid kidnappers nearly $6m in ransoms in the year to June, according to a new report from the Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence – more than triple the total in the previous 12-month period. More than 7,800 people were abducted, a two-thirds increase, and more than 1,100 killed, including almost 900 civilians.

When Boko Haram abducted almost 300 schoolgirls from their school in Chibok, Borno state in 2014, it made headlines worldwide. Yet around 45 children, mostly aged between two and five, remain missing after they were snatched from schools in Mussa, in north-eastern Borno state, in May. There is growing concern that kidnappings may be spreading to new areas. Forty-six students and staff were abducted from three schools in the south-western state of Oyo in the same month; they were rescued in July.

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President hails operation to rescue captives held in dense forests of Kainji Lake national park in north-central region

Nigerian security forces have rescued more than 300 abducted people in what the president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, hailed as the largest single-day hostage recovery in the country’s history.

The release was announced on Wednesday after a joint operation, conducted by the military, police and counter-terrorism units, freed victims held captive in the dense forests of the Kainji Lake national park in the north-central region.

Vigilantes also took part in the fight that raged all night and the following morning, residents say

Nigerian soldiers killed more than 300 members of kidnapping and cattle bandit gangs in the north-western state of Zamfara this week, according to a government official.

Government troops targeted the gangs in Gummi district in a two-day operation that “led to the elimination of more than 300 terrorists”, Zamfara’s information commissioner, Mahmud Muhammad Dantawasa, said in a statement.

Families have been left in despair after 39 pupils and seven teachers were kidnapped from classrooms in Oyo state, a part of the country previously considered relatively peaceful

Sitting on a wooden bench under the tree near her home, Aduke Balogun’s gaze is fixed on the road. Her eyes are red from crying and a lack of sleep. Last month her daughter, Kehinde Kasosara, was forcefully abducted from school and has not been seen since.

Kaosara, who is seven years old, was taken from the Baptist nursery and primary across the street from their home. The armed men, wearing military camouflage and face masks, rode into the sleepy town of Yawota in Oyo state, south-west Nigeria, on motorcycles.

Data lays bare the extent and geographical spread of attacks in Africa’s most populous country

Data from Acled and the Global Terrorism Index shows that after a few years of improvement, insecurity in Nigeria has worsened. With general elections less than a year away, the crisis has come under increasing scrutiny – both abroad and at home.

Experts say the primary long-term driver of insecurity is a governance vacuum across much of the country. On paper Nigeria is a federation comprising 36 states and 774 local government council areas, but in practice power is heavily centralised at the federal level. Resources trickle down to states in limited quantities and are distributed in far smaller amounts to local government councils, largely at the discretion of governors.

Officials confirm misfire as Amnesty gives death toll after speaking to survivors of strike on market in Yobe state

A Nigerian air force strike targeting jihadist rebels hit a market in north-east Nigeria, killing more than 100 people and injuring many others, Amnesty International and local media have said.

Officials confirmed a misfire had occurred but did not provide details.

Nigeria had largest increase in terrorism-related deaths, ranking fourth in global index behind Pakistan, Burkina Faso and Niger

Jihadist violence rose sharply in Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo last year, even as global deaths from terrorism dropped to their lowest level in a decade, according to a new report.

Nigeria recorded the largest increase in terrorism deaths globally in 2025, with fatalities rising by 46% from 513 in 2024 to 750, placing it fourth in the Global Terrorism Index, behind Pakistan, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Umar Bio Salihu, 53, the local head of Woro in Kwara state, says gunmen ‘just came in and started shooting’

The traditional chief of a village in western Nigeria where jihadists massacred residents earlier this week has recounted a night of terror during which the attackers killed two of his sons and kidnapped his wife and three daughters.

Umar Bio Salihu, the 53-year-old chief of Woro, a small, Muslim-majority village in Kwara state, said that at about 5pm on Tuesday the gunmen “just came in and started shooting”.

Criminal exploitation, economic opportunism and religious persecution are all factors in a broader picture of insecurity

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“If they explain Nigeria to you and you understand it, they didn’t explain it well enough”. So goes the maxim for trying to parse Nigeria’s labyrinthine political dynamics. A security crisis has engulfed the country, catching the attention of the US president in the process. With the help of our West Africa correspondent, Eromo Egbejule, I’ll try to get to the bottom of what is happening.