The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights deplores the violent attacks on schools in Kebbi and Niger States, the Federal Republic of Nigeria
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission), through the Country Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Honourable Commissioner Solomon Ayele Dersso, follows with concern recent developments related to the abduction of twenty-five girls from a secondary school in Kebbi State and the subsequent abduction of school children at St Mary’s in Niger State, in the Federal Republic of Nigeria by armed assailants.
The African Commission has learned from reports reaching it that gunmen attacked a high school in northwestern Nigeria before dawn on Monday, 17 November 2025. In the incident, they took twenty-five schoolgirls and killed at least one staff member, while another sustained gunshot injuries during an attempt to resist the attackers.
Subsequently, on Friday, 21 November 2025, the African Commission also received reports that more children and teachers had been abducted from St Mary’s School in Niger State.
The African Commission unreservedly condemns the attacks as acts that gravely trample on various rights of the victims of the attacks, including the right to life, the right to personal security and the right to liberty.
The Commission notes with grave concern that these tragic incidents are part of a recurrent phenomenon rather than isolated occurrences characterized by, among others, violent attacks on schools and abduction of school children that goes at least as far back as the abduction of the Chibok girls in 2014. Other similar incidents include the kidnappings of Dapchi girls in 2018, another three hundred and three school children from Government Science Secondary School Kankara in Katsina State in 2020, the abduction of three hundred and seventeen schoolgirls in Jangebe, Zamfara State and further abductions of students and teachers from Government Science College, Kagara, in Niger State in 2021.
The African Commission recalls that under the African Charter, states bear responsibility not only for acts of violations directly attributable to them but also those acts of violations that result from their failure to protect citizens from the violent acts of non-state actors.
The latest incidents and as incidents that form part of a pattern of similar violent attacks, could constitute grave violation of the fundamental rights enshrined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter), particularly the right to life (Article 4), the right to dignity (Article 5), the right to personal liberty (Article 6), the right to education (Article 17), the rights of children to dignity and protection from violence (Article 18) and the right to peace and security (Article 23).
In view of the foregoing, the African Commission calls upon the Federal Government of Nigeria to take the following actions:
1. Launch comprehensive, independent, and transparent investigations into the abductions and bring the perpetrators to justice through lawful and transparent means;
2. Deploy all necessary resources to guarantee rapid rescue efforts of the school children, with full compliance with human rights standards, in order to ensure the safe and swift return of the abducted school children to their families;
3. Support victims and their families, providing medical, psychosocial, and material assistance for anyone affected;
4. Strengthen protection measures for schools, especially in vulnerable and remote areas, through security planning, early-warning systems, and community-based protection strategies, preventing further attacks; and
5. Initiate a comprehensive national process involving dialogue, expansion of legitimate structures of local governance, provision of equitable socio-economic opportunities and strengthening of people-centred law enforcement and dispute settlement measures for the resolution of the recurrence of similar incidents.
The African Commission will continue to monitor the situation closely and remains ready to engage with the Government of Nigeria to ensure that justice, accountability, and the protection of human and peoples’ rights are assured.
Honourable Commissioner Solomon Ayele Dersso, PhD
Country Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Done this 22nd day of November 2025
