Mass kidnapping of 287 school children in Kuriga, Nigeria, with Nigerian security forces actively searching for the abductees in the north-west.

Over 200 additional individuals were kidnapped in a separate raid, with no group yet claiming responsibility for the abductions.

Militant jihadists are suspected in the Borno school kidnapping, with escaped children recounting being sorted by gender and taken into the forest.

The incident is part of a troubling trend of group abductions, raising serious concerns over national security and the government's handling of the crisis.

President Bola Tinubu's administration is under scrutiny for its approach to addressing the escalation in kidnappings, particularly in Kaduna state.

Controversy surrounds the government's strategy of negotiating with 'bandits,' given the sheer scale of the kidnapping issue and limited response options.

Nigerian armed forces are stretched thin, contending with armed criminals in the north-west and a persistent jihadist insurgency in the north-east.