Outrage is mounting in Washington as senior U.S. Lawmakers sharply criticized the Nigerian Government following the abduction of schoolgirls in Kebbi State, warning that the United States will hold Nigerian authorities accountable for repeated failures to protect vulnerable citizens.
Leading the charge, U.S. Senator Jim Risch of Idaho issued a blistering statement on Tuesday condemning the abduction of 25 students from Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, where gunmen also killed the school’s vice principal. Risch said the incident was yet another tragic reminder of Nigeria’s inability to safeguard its children from jihadists and violent criminal networks.
“Nigeria has long failed to protect its schoolchildren from jihadist and criminal abductions, and little has changed,” Risch wrote on X, stressing that the United States would intensify engagement with Abuja on security and “continue to hold them accountable” for persistent lapses.
The Senator warned that schoolgirls remain prime targets for enslavement, forced religious conversion, and ransom-driven kidnappings — vulnerabilities he said U.S. lawmakers can no longer ignore.
His remarks were echoed by U.S. Lawmaker Riley Moore, who described the attack as “horrific” and urged Americans to pray for the abducted girls and the slain vice principal. Moore emphasized that the attack occurred in a Christian enclave and called on the Nigerian government to confront what he termed “rampant violence” across the country.
“The Nigerian government must do more,” he wrote, adding that continued inaction would invite deeper scrutiny from the United States Congress.
The growing chorus of international criticism comes as President Bola Tinubu dispatched Vice President Kashim Shettima to Kebbi State to reassure families of the abducted students. Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Waidi Shaibu, has ordered troops under Operation FANSAN YANMA to intensify day and night search-and-rescue missions, vowing that no effort would be spared until the girls are recovered.
But as pressure mounts at home and abroad, U.S. Lawmakers insist Nigeria must demonstrate real accountability — not just promises — if similar tragedies are to be prevented.