Tinubu Postpones G20 Trip After School Abductions

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has postponed his planned attendance at the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, this weekend, following a series of violent attacks including the abduction of schoolgirls in the northwest and a deadly assault on a church in the central region.

The decision came after gunmen raided the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, before dawn on Monday, killing two staff members and abducting 25 students. One 15-year-old girl, Hawau Usman, escaped during the chaos and alerted authorities. "They kept moving, and when they left, I ran back to the school," Usman recounted. "I knocked on the principal's house, but no one answered." Local police reported that the attackers scaled the school's fence, exchanged gunfire with guards, and fled with the girls, leaving 24 still missing. No group has claimed responsibility, though officials and analysts attribute such incidents to armed bandits, often former herders engaged in resource disputes with farming communities, who target schools and remote areas for ransom.

The school attack was compounded by a separate assault on Tuesday evening at the Christ Apostolic Church in...