Voices for Inclusion and Equity for Women (VIEW), a coalition of women leaders across northern Nigeria, has condemned the recent mass abductions in Niger and Kebbi States and criticised the decision by state governments to shut down schools in response to escalating insecurity.
In a statement issued on 22 November 2025, the group expressed shock over the worsening security crisis, describing the latest kidnappings as “a national failure that should shake the entire country.”
The condemnation follows two major attacks within days: the abduction of schoolgirls from Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, and the kidnapping of more than 300 pupils and teachers from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State. VIEW said the scale and brutality of the incidents underscore a security collapse that has plunged families and communities into “fear, paralysis, and grief.”
The coalition faulted the immediate closure of all schools in Niger and Kebbi States, as well as unity schools across northern Nigeria, arguing that the action reflects “panic rather than protection.”
“Protect schools, don’t close them,” the organisation stated. “A nation cannot safeguard its children’s future by shutting down their present.”
VIEW warned that the shutdown would have far-reaching consequences for girls’ education in a region already facing the highest burden of female illiteracy in the country. The group said the closures risk reinforcing socio-economic and cultural barriers that limit girls’ access to learning.
“Every shuttered classroom widens inequality. This is not protection; it is abandonment,” the coalition said. “It hands over control of children’s education to violent actors and strengthens efforts—whether deliberate or through neglect—to keep northern girls uneducated and powerless.”
The group urged the Federal Government and affected states to replace blanket shutdowns with intelligence-driven, proactive security measures. It called for a national emergency response, including coordinated rescue operations, transparent daily updates, and a structural overhaul of Nigeria’s security system.
“Schools must be protected, not emptied,” VIEW insisted. “The children of Maga and Papiri, like Chibok, Dapchi, Yauri and Jangebe, deserve the full force of the State’s protection, not more hollow assurances and reactive closures.”
The statement was jointly signed by members of the coalition, including Asmau Joda, Maryam Uwais, Mairo Mandara, Aisha Oyebode, Fatima Akilu, Kadaria Ahmed, Larai Ocheja Amusan, and Ijer Jonathan-Chaver.
VIEW describes itself as a coalition operating across the North Central, Northeast, and Northwest geopolitical zones, committed to promoting equitable, inclusive, and just societies for women.
