Cynthia Ezegwu
The Senate on Tuesday condemned the deadly attack on Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State, where gunmen reportedly killed the vice principal and abducted 25 students.
The condemnation followed a motion raised by Kebbi Senator Yahaya Abdullahi during plenary, which sparked a heated debate on the rising insecurity affecting schools across the country. Senate President Godswill Akpabio presided over the session and later directed a closed-door meeting to discuss the matter further.
Former Senate President Ahmad Lawan described the attacks as a threat to Nigeria’s future, warning that failure to act swiftly could endanger an entire generation. “These children are our future. We have to do everything possible to get them back. Otherwise, the future of Nigeria will be compromised. Time is of the essence for our armed forces,” he said.
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North) urged state governors to share responsibility in combating insecurity, noting that security is not solely the duty of the Federal Government. Senator Victor Umeh (Anambra Central) called for the deployment of technology and a national sense of urgency to track the abducted students, while Senator Solomon Lalong (Plateau South) questioned the effectiveness of the World Bank–supported Safe School programme, drawing parallels with the Chibok girls’ abduction.
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Senate President Akpabio condemned the attack, urging the Federal Government and security agencies to apprehend the perpetrators and rescue the children immediately. He also emphasized the need to investigate the logistics used by the attackers, stating that senators’ inputs would feed into the forthcoming national security summit. “After this, we will go for a closed-door session to discuss more. Let us also spare a minute’s silence in honour of the school vice principal and those who died defending the students,” he said.
The attack occurred in the early hours of Monday when gunmen stormed the school, killing the vice principal and injuring a school guard. Security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force and the military, have launched intensive search-and-rescue operations to recover the abducted students.
Nigeria continues to face repeated armed attacks on schools, a trend that has persisted for over a decade, resulting in killings, mass abductions, and prolonged disruption of learning, particularly in northern states.