Nigeria reversed its education policy and reinstated English as the sole language of instruction. Officials say teaching in local languages weakened students’ understanding of core subjects and contributed to poor exam performance. Critics warn the shift could disadvantage rural learners who are currently taught in their mother tongues.
Monday, November 24, 2025
Video - Nigeria reverts to English-only instruction after scrapping mother-tongue policy
Nigeria reversed its education policy and reinstated English as the sole language of instruction. Officials say teaching in local languages weakened students’ understanding of core subjects and contributed to poor exam performance. Critics warn the shift could disadvantage rural learners who are currently taught in their mother tongues.
More young people suffer from diabetes in Nigeria
Nigerian health experts warn rapid urbanization, sedentary lifestyles, fried foods, and sugary diets are driving a diabetessurge. Particularly sharp is the rise in Type 1 cases, while low awareness and limited screening means many young Nigerians remain undiagnosed.
"We are seeing diabetes in younger people now," said Mary Nkem Babalola, a public-health worker with the Funmilayo Florence Babalola Foundation (FFB), which combats the illness in underserved Nigerian communities.
"We need early screening, public education, and access to affordable test kits and insulin."
Watrahyel Mshelia, 21, from Abuja told DW she never understood the long-term risks.
"So, at 16, when I was diagnosed, I didn't really understand what was going on," she said.
"The doctors and nurses explained, but they didn't explain so much. They just told me to take my medications and I should not get injured."
When Watrahyel left home for university, she stopped taking her medication because she felt fine. A car accident four years later changed that.
"I broke my leg, and it has not healed for a year because of diabetes. I realized it is a very serious condition," she said.
By Privilege Musvanhiri, DW
"We are seeing diabetes in younger people now," said Mary Nkem Babalola, a public-health worker with the Funmilayo Florence Babalola Foundation (FFB), which combats the illness in underserved Nigerian communities.
"We need early screening, public education, and access to affordable test kits and insulin."
Watrahyel Mshelia, 21, from Abuja told DW she never understood the long-term risks.
"So, at 16, when I was diagnosed, I didn't really understand what was going on," she said.
"The doctors and nurses explained, but they didn't explain so much. They just told me to take my medications and I should not get injured."
When Watrahyel left home for university, she stopped taking her medication because she felt fine. A car accident four years later changed that.
"I broke my leg, and it has not healed for a year because of diabetes. I realized it is a very serious condition," she said.
'Epidemic levels'
Nigeria's health authorities warn the surge is fast becoming one of the country's most urgent public-health threats.
Nigeria now has 11.4 million people living with diabetes, according to the Nigeria Diabetes Association, one of the highest figures in Sub-Saharan Africa.
That figure of diagnosed cases alone exceeds the combined population of Namibia, Botswana and Lesotho, though it remains a fraction of Nigeria's around 220 million citizens.
The association urges the government to declare a state of emergency on diabetes care.
"It's now more than a crisis, it's an epidemic, it is catastrophic," Ejiofor Ugwu of the Nigeria Diabetes Association told DW.
"11.4 million people represents only patients who have been diagnosed and that is less than half of the people who are living with diabetes in Nigeria," he said, adding: "Diabetes is killing about 30,000 to 40,000 Nigerians every year. That is not a joke."
Global bodies have raised similar alarms. The World Health Organization (WHO) projects diabetes will become the seventh leading cause of death by 2030, while the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimates over 24 million Africans currently live with the condition.
Diabetes has flown under the radar while infectious diseases dominate Africa's health agenda. But experts warn of deep impacts on households, health systems, and economies.
Nigeria's health authorities warn the surge is fast becoming one of the country's most urgent public-health threats.
Nigeria now has 11.4 million people living with diabetes, according to the Nigeria Diabetes Association, one of the highest figures in Sub-Saharan Africa.
That figure of diagnosed cases alone exceeds the combined population of Namibia, Botswana and Lesotho, though it remains a fraction of Nigeria's around 220 million citizens.
The association urges the government to declare a state of emergency on diabetes care.
"It's now more than a crisis, it's an epidemic, it is catastrophic," Ejiofor Ugwu of the Nigeria Diabetes Association told DW.
"11.4 million people represents only patients who have been diagnosed and that is less than half of the people who are living with diabetes in Nigeria," he said, adding: "Diabetes is killing about 30,000 to 40,000 Nigerians every year. That is not a joke."
Global bodies have raised similar alarms. The World Health Organization (WHO) projects diabetes will become the seventh leading cause of death by 2030, while the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimates over 24 million Africans currently live with the condition.
Diabetes has flown under the radar while infectious diseases dominate Africa's health agenda. But experts warn of deep impacts on households, health systems, and economies.
What would an emergency declaration achieve?
The diabetes association says emergency status would compel the federal government to develop a national response plan and introduce targeted policies.
"We are advocating for the federal government to subsidize essential diabetes medications," Ugwu said.
"A tax waiver on imported diabetes drugs would reduce landing costs and make them more affordable," he adds.
Currently, Nigeria's National Health Insurance does not cover most diabetes drugs or basic consumables such as glucose meters and test strips, leaving many patients unable to manage the disease.
The diabetes association says emergency status would compel the federal government to develop a national response plan and introduce targeted policies.
"We are advocating for the federal government to subsidize essential diabetes medications," Ugwu said.
"A tax waiver on imported diabetes drugs would reduce landing costs and make them more affordable," he adds.
Currently, Nigeria's National Health Insurance does not cover most diabetes drugs or basic consumables such as glucose meters and test strips, leaving many patients unable to manage the disease.
Awareness and affordability
Cost remains one of the biggest barriers to diagnosis and treatment.
"Access to screenings, affordability of drugs, these make people ignore diabetes until it becomes a crisis," DW's Nigeria correspondent, Olisa Chukwuma, says.
A pack of glucose-testing strips costs 15,000–17,000 naira (around €10). Even a single test now costs 1,000 naira (€0.60), up from 100 naira a few years ago.
The IDF recommends annual blood-glucose screening for adults over 40, and from 18 in families with a history of diabetes or obesity. But this remains out of reach for many Nigerians.
Cost remains one of the biggest barriers to diagnosis and treatment.
"Access to screenings, affordability of drugs, these make people ignore diabetes until it becomes a crisis," DW's Nigeria correspondent, Olisa Chukwuma, says.
A pack of glucose-testing strips costs 15,000–17,000 naira (around €10). Even a single test now costs 1,000 naira (€0.60), up from 100 naira a few years ago.
The IDF recommends annual blood-glucose screening for adults over 40, and from 18 in families with a history of diabetes or obesity. But this remains out of reach for many Nigerians.
Why are cases rising?
Experts link the surge to rapid urbanization and lifestyle shifts, including heavy consumption of processed foods and falling levels of physical activity.
"We have embraced westernized diets. Most of our meals are unhealthy. Physical inactivity is a major risk factor," Ugwu said.
Left unmanaged, diabetes can damage the heart, eyes, kidneys and nerves. The WHO says diabetes is affecting people at all phases of life, from childhood to old age.
Experts link the surge to rapid urbanization and lifestyle shifts, including heavy consumption of processed foods and falling levels of physical activity.
"We have embraced westernized diets. Most of our meals are unhealthy. Physical inactivity is a major risk factor," Ugwu said.
Left unmanaged, diabetes can damage the heart, eyes, kidneys and nerves. The WHO says diabetes is affecting people at all phases of life, from childhood to old age.
Fifty children escape after mass school abduction in Nigeria
Fifty of the 315 children kidnapped by gunmen from a Catholic school in Nigeria's Niger State on Friday have escaped.
The Christian Association of Nigeria says they have been reunited with their families. A major military-led search and rescue operation is under way for the remaining 265 children and 12 teachers who were taken with them.
Authorities in several Nigerian states ordered schools to shut following the mass abduction in Niger and another smaller hostage-taking in Kebbi state on Monday when 25 pupils were kidnapped from a boarding school.
In response to the spate of abductions, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has ordered the recruitment of an additional 30,000 police officers.
In another development, 38 people abducted from a church service in Kwara state last week were freed on Sunday, the state governor said.
Two people were killed in the attack on Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku.
Orders were given for many schools to close in the states of Kebbi, Niger, Katsina, Yobe and Kwara.
News of the children's escape brought welcome relief for families and for a country that has been agonising over the fate of hundreds of abducted schoolchildren.
However, there is still a lot of confusion and uncertainty in Papiri, the village in Niger state where the children were taken from.
Parents whose children are still missing told the BBC they feel abandoned. While they expected security officers to be deployed in the village in the wake of the attack on St Mary's School, this has not yet happened.
President Tinubu's office said on Sunday that all police in Very Important Persons (VIP) protection services had been redeployed to focus on core duties, especially in remote areas prone to attacks.
A report published earlier this month by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) said more than a quarter of Nigeria's estimated 371,000-strong police force - 100,000 - were "assigned to the protection of politicians and VIPs, rather than to tasks serving the general population".
VIPs in need of protection will now be able to request armed personnel from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
According to a Christian group involved in the case, the pupils managed to escape between Friday and Saturday in what is being described as a brave and risky attempt to flee their captors.
The kidnapping of more than 300 schoolchildren surpasses the 276 abducted during the infamous Chibok mass abduction of 2014.
Local police say armed men stormed St Mary's at around 02:00 (01:00 GMT) on Friday.
Niger state governor Mohammed Umaru Bongo announced on Saturday that all schools in the area would close, warning that was "not a time for blame game".
Calling for the release of the abductees, Pope Leo XIV expressed "immense sadness" and urged the authorities to act swiftly.
Dominic Adamu, whose daughters attend the school but were not taken, told the BBC: "Everybody is weak... It took everybody by surprise."
One distressed woman tearfully told the BBC that her nieces, aged six and 13, had been kidnapped, adding: "I just want them to come home."
The military, police and local vigilantes are conducting a search for the children, combing nearby forests and remote routes believed to have been used by the gunmen.
Authorities in Niger state said St Mary's School had disregarded an order to close all boarding facilities following intelligence warnings of a heightened risk of attacks. The school has not commented on that allegation.
The kidnapping of people for ransom by criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, has become a major problem in many parts of Nigeria.
The payment of ransoms has been outlawed in an attempt to cut the supply of money to the criminal gangs, but it has had little effect.
On Monday, more than 20 schoolgirls, who the BBC has been told are Muslim, were kidnapped from a boarding school in Kebbi state.
And on Saturday, 14 young farmers in the mainly Muslim Borno state were abducted. One of the women has been rescued by the police.
The Nigerian president postponed foreign trips - including to last weekend's G20 summit in South Africa - in order to address the security concerns.
Last week's attacks follows claims by right-wing figures in the US, including President Donald Trump, that Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria.
For months, campaigners and politicians in Washington have been alleging that Islamist militants are systematically targeting Christians. The Nigerian government has dismissed this claim.
Earlier this month, Trump said he would send troops into Nigeria "guns a-blazing" if the African nation's government "continues to allow the killing of Christians".
The Nigerian government has called claims that Christians are being persecuted "a gross misrepresentation of reality".
An official said that "terrorists attack all who reject their murderous ideology - Muslims, Christians and those of no faith alike".
In the north-east, jihadist groups have been battling the state for more than a decade.
Organisations monitoring violence say most of the victims of these groups are Muslim because most attacks happen in the majority-Muslim north of the country.
In the centre of Nigeria, there are also frequently deadly attacks between herders - who are mostly Muslim - on farmers, who are largely Christian.
However, analysts say these are often motivated by competition for resources, such as water or land, rather than religion.
The militant Islamist group Boko Haram took 276 girls from their school in the town of Chibok in 2014.
The incident drew international attention and sparked a global campaign seeking their return, which included an intervention from then-US First Lady Michelle Obama.
Many have since either escaped or been freed, but as many as 100 remain missing.
By Richard Kagoe and Wedaeli Chibelushi, BBC
The Christian Association of Nigeria says they have been reunited with their families. A major military-led search and rescue operation is under way for the remaining 265 children and 12 teachers who were taken with them.
Authorities in several Nigerian states ordered schools to shut following the mass abduction in Niger and another smaller hostage-taking in Kebbi state on Monday when 25 pupils were kidnapped from a boarding school.
In response to the spate of abductions, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has ordered the recruitment of an additional 30,000 police officers.
In another development, 38 people abducted from a church service in Kwara state last week were freed on Sunday, the state governor said.
Two people were killed in the attack on Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku.
Orders were given for many schools to close in the states of Kebbi, Niger, Katsina, Yobe and Kwara.
News of the children's escape brought welcome relief for families and for a country that has been agonising over the fate of hundreds of abducted schoolchildren.
However, there is still a lot of confusion and uncertainty in Papiri, the village in Niger state where the children were taken from.
Parents whose children are still missing told the BBC they feel abandoned. While they expected security officers to be deployed in the village in the wake of the attack on St Mary's School, this has not yet happened.
President Tinubu's office said on Sunday that all police in Very Important Persons (VIP) protection services had been redeployed to focus on core duties, especially in remote areas prone to attacks.
A report published earlier this month by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) said more than a quarter of Nigeria's estimated 371,000-strong police force - 100,000 - were "assigned to the protection of politicians and VIPs, rather than to tasks serving the general population".
VIPs in need of protection will now be able to request armed personnel from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
According to a Christian group involved in the case, the pupils managed to escape between Friday and Saturday in what is being described as a brave and risky attempt to flee their captors.
The kidnapping of more than 300 schoolchildren surpasses the 276 abducted during the infamous Chibok mass abduction of 2014.
Local police say armed men stormed St Mary's at around 02:00 (01:00 GMT) on Friday.
Niger state governor Mohammed Umaru Bongo announced on Saturday that all schools in the area would close, warning that was "not a time for blame game".
Calling for the release of the abductees, Pope Leo XIV expressed "immense sadness" and urged the authorities to act swiftly.
Dominic Adamu, whose daughters attend the school but were not taken, told the BBC: "Everybody is weak... It took everybody by surprise."
One distressed woman tearfully told the BBC that her nieces, aged six and 13, had been kidnapped, adding: "I just want them to come home."
The military, police and local vigilantes are conducting a search for the children, combing nearby forests and remote routes believed to have been used by the gunmen.
Authorities in Niger state said St Mary's School had disregarded an order to close all boarding facilities following intelligence warnings of a heightened risk of attacks. The school has not commented on that allegation.
The kidnapping of people for ransom by criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, has become a major problem in many parts of Nigeria.
The payment of ransoms has been outlawed in an attempt to cut the supply of money to the criminal gangs, but it has had little effect.
On Monday, more than 20 schoolgirls, who the BBC has been told are Muslim, were kidnapped from a boarding school in Kebbi state.
And on Saturday, 14 young farmers in the mainly Muslim Borno state were abducted. One of the women has been rescued by the police.
The Nigerian president postponed foreign trips - including to last weekend's G20 summit in South Africa - in order to address the security concerns.
Last week's attacks follows claims by right-wing figures in the US, including President Donald Trump, that Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria.
For months, campaigners and politicians in Washington have been alleging that Islamist militants are systematically targeting Christians. The Nigerian government has dismissed this claim.
Earlier this month, Trump said he would send troops into Nigeria "guns a-blazing" if the African nation's government "continues to allow the killing of Christians".
The Nigerian government has called claims that Christians are being persecuted "a gross misrepresentation of reality".
An official said that "terrorists attack all who reject their murderous ideology - Muslims, Christians and those of no faith alike".
In the north-east, jihadist groups have been battling the state for more than a decade.
Organisations monitoring violence say most of the victims of these groups are Muslim because most attacks happen in the majority-Muslim north of the country.
In the centre of Nigeria, there are also frequently deadly attacks between herders - who are mostly Muslim - on farmers, who are largely Christian.
However, analysts say these are often motivated by competition for resources, such as water or land, rather than religion.
The militant Islamist group Boko Haram took 276 girls from their school in the town of Chibok in 2014.
The incident drew international attention and sparked a global campaign seeking their return, which included an intervention from then-US First Lady Michelle Obama.
Many have since either escaped or been freed, but as many as 100 remain missing.
Friday, November 21, 2025
Nigeria jails separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu for life on ‘terrorism’ charges
A Nigerian court has sentenced separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu to life in prison after convicting him on seven charges related to “terrorism” in a years-long trial.
In his ruling on Thursday, Nigerian Judge James Omotosho said prosecutors proved that Kanu’s broadcasts and orders to his now-banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group incited deadly attacks on security forces and citizens in the southeast.
The violence was part of his push for an independent Biafra state for the ethnic Igbo-dominated region.
Omotosho told the court that the “right to self-determination is a political right”, but he added that: “Any self-determination not done according to the constitution of Nigeria is illegal.”
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty against Kanu, but Omotosho said he chose to show mercy.
“The death penalty is now being frowned upon by the international community. Consequently, in the interests of justice, I hereby sentence the convict to life imprisonment … instead of [the] death sentence,” Omotosho ruled.
Kanu has 90 days to appeal.
Kanu, who has been in custody since his controversial re-arrest in Kenya in 2021, shouted angrily in objection to the proceedings and was ejected from court ahead of the ruling. He had argued that his unlawful extradition from Kenya undermined any chance of a fair trial.
Kanu pleaded not guilty in 2021 to seven charges that included “terrorism”, treason and perpetuating falsehoods against Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Kanu was first arrested in 2015, but fled the country while on bail. His social media posts during his absence and his Radio Biafra broadcasts outraged the government, which said they encouraged attacks on security forces.
Ultimately, security agents brought Kanu to court in Abuja in June 2021 after detaining him in Kenya, where his lawyer alleged he was mistreated. Kenya has denied involvement.
In October 2021, Kanu’s lawyers argued that his statements on Radio Biafra shouldn’t be admissible in a Nigerian court since they were made in London.
“I can’t see how someone would make a statement in London and it becomes a triable offence in this country,” Kanu’s lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor told reporters at the time.
Kanu, a dual Nigerian-British citizen, started Radio Biafra – an obscure, London-based radio station – in 2009 after he left Nigeria to study economics and politics at the London Metropolitan University.
In one broadcast, Kanu said: “We have one thing in common, all of us that believe in Biafra, one thing we have in common, a pathological hatred for Nigeria. I cannot begin to put into words how much I hate Nigeria.”
IPOB wants a swathe of the southeast, the homeland of the Igbo ethnic group, to split from Nigeria. An attempt to secede in 1967 as the Republic of Biafra triggered a three-year civil war that killed more than one million people.
By Abby Rogers, Al Jazeera
In his ruling on Thursday, Nigerian Judge James Omotosho said prosecutors proved that Kanu’s broadcasts and orders to his now-banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group incited deadly attacks on security forces and citizens in the southeast.
The violence was part of his push for an independent Biafra state for the ethnic Igbo-dominated region.
Omotosho told the court that the “right to self-determination is a political right”, but he added that: “Any self-determination not done according to the constitution of Nigeria is illegal.”
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty against Kanu, but Omotosho said he chose to show mercy.
“The death penalty is now being frowned upon by the international community. Consequently, in the interests of justice, I hereby sentence the convict to life imprisonment … instead of [the] death sentence,” Omotosho ruled.
Kanu has 90 days to appeal.
Kanu, who has been in custody since his controversial re-arrest in Kenya in 2021, shouted angrily in objection to the proceedings and was ejected from court ahead of the ruling. He had argued that his unlawful extradition from Kenya undermined any chance of a fair trial.
Kanu pleaded not guilty in 2021 to seven charges that included “terrorism”, treason and perpetuating falsehoods against Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Kanu was first arrested in 2015, but fled the country while on bail. His social media posts during his absence and his Radio Biafra broadcasts outraged the government, which said they encouraged attacks on security forces.
Ultimately, security agents brought Kanu to court in Abuja in June 2021 after detaining him in Kenya, where his lawyer alleged he was mistreated. Kenya has denied involvement.
In October 2021, Kanu’s lawyers argued that his statements on Radio Biafra shouldn’t be admissible in a Nigerian court since they were made in London.
“I can’t see how someone would make a statement in London and it becomes a triable offence in this country,” Kanu’s lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor told reporters at the time.
Kanu, a dual Nigerian-British citizen, started Radio Biafra – an obscure, London-based radio station – in 2009 after he left Nigeria to study economics and politics at the London Metropolitan University.
In one broadcast, Kanu said: “We have one thing in common, all of us that believe in Biafra, one thing we have in common, a pathological hatred for Nigeria. I cannot begin to put into words how much I hate Nigeria.”
IPOB wants a swathe of the southeast, the homeland of the Igbo ethnic group, to split from Nigeria. An attempt to secede in 1967 as the Republic of Biafra triggered a three-year civil war that killed more than one million people.
Pupils abducted from Catholic school in fresh Nigeria attack
An unknown number of pupils have been abducted by armed men from a Catholic school in central Nigeria, the second mass school kidnapping this week.
The latest attack targeted St Mary's School in Papiri, Niger state, where authorities had already ordered the temporary closure of all boarding schools due to rising security threats.
Details remain unclear but residents fear that close to 100 students and staff may have been taken away during the early-morning raid.
Nigeria has faced a renewed wave of attacks by armed groups in recent days, including the kidnapping on Monday of more than 20 schoolgirls, who the BBC has been told are Muslim, from a boarding school in nearby Kebbi state.
Police said armed men - locally known as bandits - stormed St Mary's School on Friday at about 02:00 local time (01:00 GMT) and abducted an unconfirmed number of students from their hostel.
Fear and uncertainty have gripped the area as families wait for news.
The authorities in Niger state said the school had disregarded an order to close all boarding facilities following intelligence warnings of a heightened risk of attacks.
"Regrettably, St Mary's School proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities without notifying or seeking clearance from the state government, thereby exposing pupils and the staff to avoidable risk," they said in a statement.
The school has not commented.
The police said that security agencies were "combing the forests with a view to rescue the abducted students".
The attack follows claims by US President Donald Trump that Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria, an allegation dismissed by the Nigerian government.
Earlier this month, Trump said he would send troops into Nigeria "guns a-blazing" if its government "continues to allow the killing of Christians".
The Nigerian government has pushed back on these claims, describing them as "a gross misrepresentation of reality".
An official said that "terrorists attack all who reject their murderous ideology - Muslims, Christians and those of no faith alike".
Nigeria is currently grappling multiple overlapping security crises.
The country's 220 million people are roughly evenly split between followers of the two religions, with Muslims in the majority in the north.
The kidnapping of people for ransom by criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, has become a major problem in many parts of the country.
In the north-east, jihadist groups have been battling the state for more than a decade. Organisations monitoring violence say most of the victims of these groups are Muslim because most attacks happen in the north.
In the centre of the country, there are also frequently deadly attacks between herders, who are mostly Muslim, on farmers, who are largely Christian. However, analysts say these are often motivated by competition for resources such as water or land, rather than religion.
On Tuesday, gunmen opened fire on a church in south-western Kwara state, killing two people and abducting 38 others as the service was being broadcast online.
Local media report that the kidnappers have demanded a ransom.
Two of the schoolgirls abducted on Monday in Kebbi state have managed to escape, while 23 are still missing. Two people were killed in that attack. They were both Muslim.
President Bola Tinubu this week postponed his foreign trips to address the rising wave of attacks across Africa's most populous country.
By Chris Ewokor and Wycliffe Muia, BBC
The latest attack targeted St Mary's School in Papiri, Niger state, where authorities had already ordered the temporary closure of all boarding schools due to rising security threats.
Details remain unclear but residents fear that close to 100 students and staff may have been taken away during the early-morning raid.
Nigeria has faced a renewed wave of attacks by armed groups in recent days, including the kidnapping on Monday of more than 20 schoolgirls, who the BBC has been told are Muslim, from a boarding school in nearby Kebbi state.
Police said armed men - locally known as bandits - stormed St Mary's School on Friday at about 02:00 local time (01:00 GMT) and abducted an unconfirmed number of students from their hostel.
Fear and uncertainty have gripped the area as families wait for news.
The authorities in Niger state said the school had disregarded an order to close all boarding facilities following intelligence warnings of a heightened risk of attacks.
"Regrettably, St Mary's School proceeded to reopen and resume academic activities without notifying or seeking clearance from the state government, thereby exposing pupils and the staff to avoidable risk," they said in a statement.
The school has not commented.
The police said that security agencies were "combing the forests with a view to rescue the abducted students".
The attack follows claims by US President Donald Trump that Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria, an allegation dismissed by the Nigerian government.
Earlier this month, Trump said he would send troops into Nigeria "guns a-blazing" if its government "continues to allow the killing of Christians".
The Nigerian government has pushed back on these claims, describing them as "a gross misrepresentation of reality".
An official said that "terrorists attack all who reject their murderous ideology - Muslims, Christians and those of no faith alike".
Nigeria is currently grappling multiple overlapping security crises.
The country's 220 million people are roughly evenly split between followers of the two religions, with Muslims in the majority in the north.
The kidnapping of people for ransom by criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, has become a major problem in many parts of the country.
In the north-east, jihadist groups have been battling the state for more than a decade. Organisations monitoring violence say most of the victims of these groups are Muslim because most attacks happen in the north.
In the centre of the country, there are also frequently deadly attacks between herders, who are mostly Muslim, on farmers, who are largely Christian. However, analysts say these are often motivated by competition for resources such as water or land, rather than religion.
On Tuesday, gunmen opened fire on a church in south-western Kwara state, killing two people and abducting 38 others as the service was being broadcast online.
Local media report that the kidnappers have demanded a ransom.
Two of the schoolgirls abducted on Monday in Kebbi state have managed to escape, while 23 are still missing. Two people were killed in that attack. They were both Muslim.
President Bola Tinubu this week postponed his foreign trips to address the rising wave of attacks across Africa's most populous country.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)