By Onibiyo Segun
(Dekina, Kogi State) – The abduction of students and teachers from Nigerian schools has raised questions over whether armed groups are driven only by desire for material gain or whether some kidnappers are doing it for the Caliphate.
On July 14, at about 5:25 p.m., armed men stormed Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina county of Kogi State, as students were writing the National Examinations Council (NECO) examination.
The attackers abducted the school principal, a NECO official and four students before escaping the area.
Residents said the attackers, believed to be Fulani militia terrorists, fired shots before entering the school and leaving examination materials scattered across classrooms after students and officials were taken away.
One student was later rescued while police and other security agencies launched a search-and-rescue operation.
“The command commenced a coordinated operation to rescue the remaining victims and arrest those responsible,” according to the Kogi State Police Command spokesperson, Assistant Superintendent of Police ASP Saliu Oyiza Afusat.
“Commissioner of Police CP Naziru Bello Kankarofi, alongside the Brigade Commander and Kogi State Security Adviser Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), moved to the area for an assessment of the situation,” she added.
The Kogi attack adds to the epidemic of previous school kidnappings in Borno, Oyo and Niger states.
Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have repeatedly attacked schools in Borno State as part of their campaign against Western education.
TruthNigeria reported that 40 schoolchildren were abducted from Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira/Uba county in Borno after terrorists attacked the community.
The pattern has been a scourge in North Central Nigeria for 6 years. In Oyo State, pupils and teachers abducted from a school in Oriire county were held for 56 days before security forces announced their rescue.
The attacks have renewed debate over whether Nigeria is facing separate kidnapping networks or armed groups where ransom operations and ideological objectives overlap.
Judd Saul, founder of Equipping the Persecuted, argued during an Epoch Times television interview that, “some armed Fulani-linked groups involved in rural violence should not be viewed only as criminal organisations seeking financial gain.”
Saul described what he called “a well-organized and funded Fulani Islamic militia” with sectarian motivations beyond ransom collection.
He said some armed groups seek to establish a caliphate, raising questions over whether such objectives relate to the historical Sokoto Caliphate, Ansaru ideology or another religious-political objective.
Sidi Malumfashi, a Kebbi State-based counterterrorism consultant, told TruthNigeria in a chat that security agencies must investigate the structure, financing and beliefs of armed groups before classifying them.
“Some of these groups truly combine criminal activities with ideological beliefs”, Malumfashi said.
“Ransom provides resources for operations, but security agencies must determine whether the objective ends with financial gain or supports a wider agenda,” Malumfashi went on to say.
“A group can kidnap for ransom and still maintain religious or political objectives. Economic motivation does not automatically remove the possibility of ideology,”
Malumfashi added.
Dr. Adedayo Olaniyan, a public affairs analyst based in Ondo State, said attack patterns in parts of North Central and Southwest of Nigeria require closer examination.
“Looking at the communities constantly attacked in North-Central Nigeria, they are mostly Christian communities”, Olaniyan told TruthNigeria reporter in a chat.
Olaniyan went on to say, “this tells us, it’s a deliberate attack with focus on the Christian faith.”
Olaniyan said available evidence does not establish a formal policy on how armed groups treat captives based on religion.
“We don’t have confirmed evidence of a formal policy and survivor accounts are mixed. But some report similar treatment regardless of faith – particularly, Christian survivors in the North-Central,” Olaniyan said.
Criminal Kidnappers or Ideological Fighters?
Nigeria’s government has often separated kidnapping networks operating in the Northwest and North Central regions from jihadist organisations such as Ansaru, Boko Haram and ISWAP.
Dr. Friday Okoh, a public affairs analyst based in Zaria, said the classification affects security responses.
“The government frames Fulani kidnappers as profit-driven criminals, distinct from ideological groups such as Ansaru”, Dr. Okoh says.
“This supports different responses – law enforcement for banditry and military action for terrorism,” Okoh went on to say.
Analysts warn that events on the ground show the boundary between criminal kidnapping networks and ideological groups is increasingly blurred.
Colonel Oluro Somda (rtd.), a retired intelligence military officer based in Abuja, said armed groups operate with different motivations.
“It varies by group and location. Some are criminals focused on ransom. Others claim they are fighting jihad war,” Somda told TruthNigeria.
Somda added: “In practice, the lines blur, but reports show that many claim they are fighting jihad.”
On the religious background of commanders, Malumfashi said, “public data on commanders’ education or pilgrimage history is thin and often unverified.”
Somda said investigators must examine how fighters describe themselves.
“Having religious beliefs does not automatically make someone an ideological fighter”, Somda said, adding: “the question is whether those beliefs influence recruitment, targeting, justification for violence and operational objectives”.
The central question remains whether these networks are purely criminal enterprises, ideological organisations, or groups combining ransom and religious motives.
“Answering the question requires evidence from survivors, intelligence reports and investigations into armed group leadership,” Somda said.
The Kogi school attack adds another case of armed groups reaching education facilities despite security measures.
Analysts such as Malumfashi say, “Nigeria’s challenge is identifying the networks behind the attacks before schools become crime scenes.”
Onibiyo Segun reports on terrorism and conflict for TruthNigeria.
