Orders Security Overhaul and Intensified Rescue Ops for 24 Abducted Schoolgirls, Deploys Troops to Church Massacre Site as Critics Slam Inaction Amid US Warnings
ABUJA – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has indefinitely postponed his high-profile international engagements, including the 20th G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the 7th African Union-European Union (AU-EU) Summit in Luanda, Angola, in a stark acknowledgment of Nigeria’s spiraling security crisis. The decision, announced on November 19, 2025, comes mere hours after gunmen launched brazen attacks in Kebbi and Kwara states, underscoring the administration’s prioritization of domestic threats over global diplomacy—but drawing sharp rebukes from critics who decry the measures as reactive and insufficient.
Tinubu, who was set to depart Abuja on Wednesday for the G20 gathering of the world’s leading rich and developing economies—scheduled for November 22-23 in Johannesburg—before proceeding to Angola for the AU-EU dialogue on trade, investment, and continental security, suspended his itinerary following “disturbing” intelligence briefings. Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, in a statement from the State House, revealed that the president remains in the capital to await comprehensive reports from Vice President Kashim Shettima, who visited Kebbi State on Tinubu’s behalf to extend condolences to affected families, as well as updates from the police and Department of State Services (DSS) on the Kwara incident. “Disturbed by the security breaches in Kebbi State and Monday’s attack by bandits against worshippers at Christ Apostolic Church, Eruku, President Tinubu decided to suspend his departure,” Onanuga stated, emphasizing that no rescheduled timeline for the trips has been set.
The catalyst for the postponement is a wave of coordinated banditry that has gripped Nigeria’s northwest and central regions, exposing persistent vulnerabilities in rural security. On November 17, 2025, armed assailants stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, abducting 25 female students—aged 12 to 16—from their hostels shortly after evening prayers. Police reports indicate the attackers, suspected to be members of a bandit syndicate operating from forested enclaves, killed the school’s vice principal in a hail of gunfire during the raid, which lasted less than 20 minutes. As of November 20, 2025, one of the girls has escaped and reunited with her family after fleeing into nearby bushland, but the fate of the remaining 24 remains uncertain, with no confirmed ransom demands yet. Tinubu, in a late-night address on November 18, expressed profound regret over the “heartless terrorists” disrupting the education of “innocent schoolgirls” and reiterated his directive to security chiefs: “Act swiftly and bring the girls back to Kebbi State.” He has vowed to “do everything possible” to secure their safe return, placing the nation’s security apparatus on its “highest alert” and ordering a full-scale manhunt.
Compounding the horror, bandits struck again on November 18 in Eruku, Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, targeting worshippers at the Christ Apostolic Church during a midweek service. Eyewitnesses described a chaotic scene as over a dozen gunmen, armed with AK-47 rifles and machetes, burst into the sanctuary around 7:00 p.m., opening fire indiscriminately and abducting the pastor and several congregants—estimated at five to eight individuals—forcing them into waiting motorcycles. The assault claimed at least two lives, including a deacon who succumbed to gunshot wounds to the chest, and left four others critically injured, now receiving treatment at a local clinic. The attackers reportedly looted the church of offering boxes and mobile phones before vanishing into surrounding farmlands. In direct response to a plea from Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Tinubu has authorized the immediate deployment of additional military and police units to Eruku and the broader Ekiti LGA, tasking them with “pursuing and eliminating” the perpetrators. Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris echoed this urgency, stating the president has instructed agencies to “flush out” criminal elements “wherever they may be,” framing the incidents as “painful reminders of the threats confronting the nation.”
These attacks are part of a broader surge in banditry that has plagued Nigeria since Tinubu’s May 2023 inauguration, with over 13,500 fighters neutralized and 17,000 arrested in operations to date, according to Information Minister Idris. Yet, the violence persists, fueled by porous borders, arms proliferation, and socioeconomic despair in the northwest. Analysts link the Kebbi and Kwara raids to the same networks behind the October 2025 assassination of a senior army general in Sokoto State and the kidnapping of over 100 travelers on the Kaduna-Abuja highway—incidents that have intensified calls for a national forest guard force, which Tinubu approved earlier this month to combat hideouts used for kidnappings and illegal logging. The administration has also rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s October 31, 2025, designation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” over alleged “Christian genocide,” with Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume arguing that such rhetoric—coupled with threats of U.S. military intervention—has emboldened extremists by exploiting sectarian narratives. “Nigeria rejects any characterisation of the conflict as a genocide against Christians or any group. Verified evidence shows that insurgents and criminal networks attack both churches and mosques, killing Muslims and Christians alike,” Akume asserted, while highlighting balanced representation in Tinubu’s security council.
The postponement signals a clear pivot toward domestic imperatives, with Tinubu delegating Nigeria’s G20 representation to a high-level team led by eight governors, including Nasarawa’s Abdullahi Sule, who departed for Johannesburg on November 19 to engage on economic reforms and climate finance—key agendas where Nigeria seeks $10 billion in green investments. Sule is expected to brief the president upon return, incorporating an action plan for implementation. However, the move has elicited mixed reactions. Civil society leaders and opposition figures, including former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, have hailed it as a “tough call” prioritizing lives over optics, with Amaechi urging “decisive action” beyond deployments. Yet, critics like U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) lambast the government, declaring “little has changed in Nigeria concerning terrorist attacks,” and accusing it of failing to protect schoolchildren from “enslavement, conversion, and ransom.” Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have accused security forces of “inaction and complacency,” pointing to delayed responses in Kebbi where reinforcements arrived hours after the abduction. Prophet Samuel Akinbodunse of the Freedom Life Revival Ministry has issued spiritual warnings, flagging seven states—including Kebbi and Kwara—as “terror-prone” and calling for national repentance.
As Nigeria grapples with these shadows, Tinubu’s calculus underscores a presidency at a crossroads: balancing international stature with the raw imperatives of survival. With banditry claiming over 2,000 lives in 2025 alone and economic strains from naira volatility exacerbating vulnerabilities, the coming days will test whether this suspension translates to tangible rescues and reforms—or merely another chapter in a cycle of outrage and reprisal. Clarion Newschannel is monitoring developments, including potential ransom negotiations in Kebbi and ongoing sweeps in Kwara, with live updates forthcoming.
TINUBU SHELVS G20 AND AU-EU TRIPS AMID ESCALATING BANDIT ATTACKS IN KEBBI AND KWARA
