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Lokoja (Fides News Agency) – No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack on a Nigerian orphanage in which a group of gunmen kidnapped 23 children. The gang took the children late on Sunday, April 26, from an unregistered facility called the Dahallukitab Group of Schools, located in an “isolated area” in Kogi State’s capital, Lokoja.
This was reported by Kogi State Information Commissioner Kingsley Fanwo on Monday in a statement released by Nigerian authorities. The Commissioner also noted that the “prompt and coordinated response” of the security forces led to the rescue of 15 children but eight are still missing. The wife of the proprietor of the orphanage was also abducted, according to the statement. “Intensive operations are ongoing to secure the safe return of the remaining eight victims and apprehend the perpetrators,” the official stated, adding that the orphanage was operating “illegally” in a remote location without the knowledge of relevant authorities and security agencies.
Nigeria faces multiple conflicts from long-running violence by the Boko Haram armed group to “bandit” gangs, farmer-herder violence and southeastern separatists. The ISIL (ISIS)-linked Lakurawa group also operates in communities in the northwestern part of the country bordering Niger. Mass kidnappings have become a common way for gangs and armed groups to make quick money in Africa’s most populous country, especially in rural areas with little government presence.
The North Central Zone of Nigeria, where Kogi is located, has seen violent attacks, including raids on schools, in recent months with some of the attacks blamed on armed groups. Previous incidents include the kidnapping of 24 girls on November 17, 2025, from a high school dormitory in Kebbi State, in the northwest of the country (see Fides, 17/11/2025), and the kidnapping of hundreds of students and teachers from St. Mary's Catholic Primary and Secondary School in the community of Papiri, Niger State, in north-central Nigeria (see Fides, 21/11/2025).
In January 2026, kidnappings remain one of the main security threats in the north and center of the country, jeopardizing the right to education for an entire generation. According to the United Nations Children's Fund, the fear of kidnapping has led to the closure of numerous schools, leaving millions of children without access to education in an already vulnerable region. (AP) (Fides News Agency, 28/4/2026)
