Dozens of armed gunmen on motorcycles stormed the school premises during the morning assembly. They fired into the air to disperse the crowd, surrounded the pupils and teachers, and marched them into the nearby forest. The attackers seized pupils from both the Government Secondary School and the LEA Primary School. One student was shot and hospitalised; some sources later reported that a 14‑year‑old pupil died from the gunshot wound.
7 Mar 2024 · Kuriga, Chikun, Kaduna
Deaths
1
Injured
0
Kidnapped
287
Total casualties
1
Perpetrators
Bandits
Response
President Bola Tinubu directed security agencies to rescue the children and ruled out paying any ransom. Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani visited the town and promised that all abducted children would be returned. The federal government refused to negotiate or pay a ransom, but the kidnappers had reportedly demanded $690,000 (₦1 billion).
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
The attack was part of the sustained wave of Banditry in northwest Nigeria, where criminal gangs — known locally as "Bandits" — target schools to abduct large groups for ransom. The kidnap‑for‑ransom economy in the northwest has escalated since the early 2010s, shifting from cattle rustling to mass abductions. The community had no police presence for years, and the police station in Kuriga had long been closed, leaving the school vulnerable. The junior and secondary sections had been relocated to the school building inside Kuriga town a few years earlier because their former location outside the town had become too insecure. The attack occurred during morning assembly, a moment when pupils were gathered and predictable. The Bandits were dressed in military uniforms, a tactic designed to deceive and delay resistance.
Trajectory
The attack unfolded in multiple phases. Phase 1 (approx. 8:00–8:30 am, 7 March 2024): Dozens of gunmen on motorcycles, dressed in military uniforms, rode into the school grounds. They fired into the air and blocked all exits. Some pupils initially thought they were soldiers and began hailing them before realising the deception. Phase 2: The Bandits rounded up pupils and teachers, beating them with horsewhips, and marched them into the nearby forest. A 14‑year‑old student, Rabilu Ahmed, was shot and later died at General Hospital Birnin Gwari. Phase 3 (the following days): The Bandits contacted a community spokesman, demanding ₦1 billion ransom and giving a 20‑day ultimatum. Phase 4 (24 March 2024): After 17 days in captivity, 137 children (76 female, 61 male) were rescued by the military in Zamfara State and returned to Kaduna. The government claimed no ransom was paid.
Cycle notes
Mirrored earlier school abductions in northern Nigeria including 14 April 2014 – Chibok schoolgirls abduction (276 girls taken by Boko Haram from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, triggering global outrage and the #BringBackOurGirls movement); 19 February 2018 – Dapchi schoolgirls abduction (110 girls abducted by Boko Haram/ISWAP from Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State; five died; one remained captive); 11 December 2020 – Kankara school abduction (344 boys taken from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, released after five days); 17 February 2021 – Kagara school abduction (27 students, three teachers, and 12 family members taken from Government Science College, Kagara, Niger); 26 February 2021 – Jangebe school abduction (317 girls taken from Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State); 30 May 2021 – Tegina Islamiya school abduction (136–200 students taken from Salihu Tanko Islamic school in Rafi, Niger, one teacher killed, released after 86 days following ransom payment), reflecting a recurring pattern in which Bandits and insurgents – from Boko Haram's 2014 Chibok abduction to the wave of mass kidnappings in the northwest in 2020‑2024 – target schools at predictable moments (morning assembly, dormitory nights), exploit the absence or withdrawal of security forces from rural communities, dress in military uniforms to deceive, and demand large ransoms that impoverished families cannot pay, while the state's response alternates between no‑ransom pledges and behind‑the‑scenes payments, with the 7 March 2024 Kuriga kidnapping also echoing the 1982 Kaduna uprising during the Maitatsine revolts, where a marginalised urban sect exploited the state's security vacuum and targeted vulnerable populations.
Pattern
Mass school abductions by Bandits
Related — Kidnapping
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