Abducted Nigerian schoolgirls rescued, president says

2 weeks ago 17

World

All 24 schoolgirls who were  abducted by armed assailants from a school last week in Kebbi  in northwestern Nigeria have been rescued, the country's president announced Tuesday.

No details on rescue mission, nor apparent difference in headcount

The Associated Press

· Posted: Nov 25, 2025 3:07 PM EST | Last Updated: 1 hour ago

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Exterior of a stone building with a few people standing outside
Mourners gather at the house of Hassan Yakubu Makuku, vice-principal of the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, who was killed in the Nov. 17 attack in which gunmen abducted some two dozen schoolgirls, in Kebbi, northwestern Nigeria, on Nov. 18. (Tunde Omolehin/The Associated Press)

All 24 schoolgirls who were abducted by armed assailants from a school last week in Kebbi in northwestern Nigeria have been rescued, the country's president announced Tuesday.

The girls were abducted on Nov. 17, and police at the time had said 25 were taken, but a statement Tuesday quoted President Bola Tinubu as saying that all 24 of the students who had been abducted were rescued. No details were released about the rescue mission.

"I am relieved that all the 24 girls gave been accounted for. Now, we must put as a matter of urgency more boots on the ground in the vulnerable areas to avert further incidents of kidnapping," the statement quoted Tinubu as saying.

The attack in Kebbi was among a spate of recent mass abductions in Nigeria.

Attackers raided a Catholic school Friday in north-central Niger state and abducted more than 300 students and staff. Fifty students escaped over the weekend.

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