Kuriga kidnapping

On the morning of 7 March 2024, at approximately 08:30 local time (07:30 GMT), a large group of gunmen riding motorcycles entered a school compound in the town of Kuriga, located in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State in north-western Nigeria. The attackers struck while students were gathered on the assembly ground, abducting more than 200 pupils from the site. It was alleged that a faction of Boko Haram led by Bakura Doro was involved in carrying out the kidnapping, though this attribution was reported as an allegation rather than a confirmed fact.

Following the attack, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani visited the area and provided details on the scale of the abduction. According to the governor, 187 students from the Government Secondary School and 125 students from the local primary school were reported missing, bringing the total number of missing children to 312 as initially reported. In the days following the kidnapping, 25 students were returned, reducing the number still being held.

In response to the mass abduction, the Kaduna State government stated it was working to secure the return of the remaining missing students. Authorities described heightened security measures in the region and said the state government was collaborating with various stakeholders to address the crisis. Officials also indicated that efforts were being made to improve the overall security of schools in Kaduna State beyond the immediate response to this incident.

On 24 March 2024, Governor Uba Sani announced that all 287 students who had been confirmed as taken were freed and reported safe. The governor publicly thanked President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian Army for their role in the outcome. However, the official statement announcing the students' release did not disclose specific details about the actions or negotiations that led to their freedom, leaving the precise circumstances of the release unclear.

The Kuriga kidnapping occurred amid a broader pattern of mass school abductions in Nigeria, a tactic that has been used in the country in incidents including the Kagara, Kankara, Greenfield University, Makurdi, and Zamfara kidnappings. As of the available reporting, no individuals have been publicly named as charged or convicted in connection with the Kuriga kidnapping, and the case's underlying investigative and prosecutorial status remains unresolved in the source material reviewed for this dossier.