Education Rights Group Demands Rescue of Abducted Kebbi Schoolgirls

By Chinedu Echianu

The Save Public Education Campaign (SPEC) has called on the Federal Government to immediately secure the release of 25 schoolgirls abducted in Kebbi State, describing the attack as a distressing reminder of the insecurity threatening education across the country.
In a statement issued on Wednesday signed by its convener Vivian Bello, SPEC condemned the abduction “in the strongest terms,” expressing solidarity with the families and school community affected by the incident. The group said no parent should endure the trauma of sending a child to school only for them to fall into the hands of armed criminals.

SPEC urged the Federal Government to treat the incident as a national emergency and move swiftly to secure the girls’ safe return. It demanded coordinated security action, transparent updates to the public, and full deployment of intelligence resources to ensure their immediate rescue.
The campaign also called for enhanced protection for schools in high-risk areas, including the implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration, to which Nigeria is a signatory. It further recommended a national strategy to prevent future school abductions by disrupting the activities of armed groups and strengthening community-based early warning systems.

SPEC emphasized the need for trauma support, learning continuity, and reintegration programmes for survivors and their families. The group warned that Nigeria must not normalize attacks on learners, saying the future of public education is at stake. “We are worried about the safety of these young girls and we don’t want their story to end like the Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu,” the statement added, stressing its commitment to fighting for the safety of all children.

The organization calls on civil society groups, labour unions, student bodies, community leaders, and citizens to demand immediate government action, insisting that education “must never be a battlefield” and that children “must never be bargaining chips.”