Gunmen Storm Nigerian Seminary, Kidnapping Students
KADUNA, NIGERIA – In what has become a chillingly familiar scenario, reports have emerged of students taken from a Catholic school in central Nigeria in the latest abduction to strike the region. Armed assailants stormed the Christ the King Major Seminary in Fayit, Fadan Kagoma, Kaduna State, late on Monday evening, kidnapping several students and plunging another community into fear.
Local police and church officials confirmed the attack, stating that heavily armed gunmen, often referred to as ‘bandits’, overwhelmed the institution’s security before taking the seminarians into nearby forests. Authorities are currently conducting a headcount to determine the exact number of students abducted while a search and rescue operation is underway.
A Familiar Pattern of School Kidnappings
For Nigerians and international observers, this incident is a tragic case of déjà vu. The attack fits a grim pattern that has plagued Nigeria’s northwest and central regions, where armed gangs have turned schools into their primary hunting grounds. These institutions, often located in remote areas with inadequate protection, are considered “soft targets.”
The abduction of children and students guarantees maximum media attention and places immense pressure on families and the government to pay the lucrative ransoms demanded by the captors.
Kaduna State: The Epicenter of a Crisis
Kaduna State, where this latest abduction occurred, has become the epicenter of this kidnapping-for-ransom industry. This year alone, the state has witnessed several mass abductions from educational institutions, including the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization and Greenfield University. In some tragic cases, students were killed by their captors when ransom demands were not met promptly.
While these bandit groups are primarily motivated by money, their activities have dangerously inflamed ethnic and religious tensions. The attackers are often from the Fulani ethnic group, who are predominantly Muslim, while victims in these farming communities are frequently Christian. This adds a volatile layer of sectarian conflict to the fundamental issues of organized crime and a catastrophic failure of state security.
A Nation’s Future at Risk
The Nigerian government, under President Muhammadu Buhari, faces mounting criticism for its inability to secure the nation. The country’s military is stretched thin, battling a decade-long Islamist insurgency in the northeast while also tackling banditry and inter-communal violence elsewhere. Each new abduction serves as a stark reminder of the state’s weakening grip on security.
For parents across northern and central Nigeria, sending a child to school has become an act of faith fraught with anxiety. Hundreds of schools have been forced to close, disrupting the education of thousands and threatening the future of an entire generation. As security forces mobilize in Kaduna, a desperate wait begins for the families of the abducted seminarians, hoping this latest abduction does not end in tragedy.
