Miriam Adah on anniversary of Nigeria’s Chibok mass abduction

Miriam Adah, Southern & Eastern Africa Assistant Research Manager at ACLED, said: 

It has now been 12 years since the first mass abduction of schoolchildren in Nigeria, when Boko Haram insurgents seized more than 200 girls from their school in Chibok —a moment that shocked the world and redefined the country’s conflict. Out of those taken on 14 April 2014, 82 girls remain in captivity today, a stark reminder of how unresolved the crisis remains.

Twelve years on, the tactic has not only persisted —it has spread. Since then, ACLED records at least 16 mass abductions¹ of students from schools and hostels carried out by various bandit and militant Islamist groups across northern Nigeria.

States such as Niger, Kaduna, Kebbi, and Katsina have emerged as epicentres of this trend, with girls’ schools repeatedly singled out —amplifying national outrage while exposing gaps in state protection. These incidents highlight how abductions have become a sustained and lucrative strategy for armed groups, particularly in remote areas where state presence is limited. 

For the Chibok community that is frequently attacked by insurgents, the anniversary reminds them not only of the girls’ abduction and continued captivity but also deep uncertainty about whether such attacks can be prevented in the future.